Someday, an alligator might save your life.

Researchers in Louisiana say they've discovered unique antibiotic proteins in the blood of American alligators that can kill a wide range of deadly bacteria, halt the spread of common infections and perhaps even stop the HIV virus that causes AIDS.

If they're right, and they're able to sequence the genetics of gator blood, the researchers say superdrugs based on their findings might be available within 10 years.

"It's pretty exciting," said Lancia Darville, a Louisiana State University researcher who's scheduled to present the findings at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans this week.

Darville explained that alligators have developed unique immune systems during the course of their long evolution.

"If you think about alligators, they usually get into a lot of fights and get cuts and bruises and torn limbs, and they live in swamps that have a whole lot of bacteria," she said. "But even in the presence of all that bacteria, they [almost] never get any infections."

The reason, Darville explained, is that 'gators have unusually strong immune systems. Unlike humans, their immune systems can fight off different types of bacteria, viruses and fungi without having been previously exposed to them.

Darville and study co-author Mark Merchant, a longtime alligator researcher at McNeese State University in Louisiana, have been doing gator blood research for years. Previous studies by Merchant and other scientists, including some at the University of Georgia in Athens and the University of Florida in Gainesville, have produced similar findings.

Technology, however, is taking research to new levels. Currently, Darville and Merchant are sequencing the genetic makeup of alligator blood to figure out how to make chemicals based on it — the next step in developing new drugs.

Possible drugs include creams that could be used to treat ulcers of diabetes patients or prevent infections in amputees, and pills to fight internal infections and bacteria.

Researchers caution, however, that gator blood shouldn't be ingested or handled directly by people. Raw, unprocessed blood from alligators — just like that of any other animal — could sicken or kill humans.

"We've gotten a couple of questions from people who say, 'Why can't we just take some alligator blood and let it work?' " Darville said. "But just like most things, our bodies are going to reject anything that's not familiar to it."