<h5>Are chimpanzees turning into doctors?</h5><p>Imagine a world where chimpanzees are wearing a white coat, a stethoscope in their hands, and a box of medicines treating other chimpanzees.</p><p>Sounds like an alternate world in which animals have taken over, right!? But that’s not the case.</p><p>Scientists have witnessed chimpanzees eat certain plants to heal themselves. It seems they are acting like doctors to treat themselves. Their findings have been published in the PLOS One journal.</p><h5>What has been observed?</h5><figure class="image"><img alt="Chimp.jpg" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/newsahoot.appspot.com/Chimp_a4abd7d41b.jpg"><figcaption>A resting chimpanzee. Photo by Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0</figcaption></figure><p>Scientists monitored many chimpanzees at the Budongo Central Forest Reserve in Uganda to see how they behaved when they were healthy and unhealthy.</p><p>They noticed that sick or injured chimpanzees were eating certain plant items that were not a part of their regular diet.</p><p>Scientists then collected some of these plants, got them examined, and found out that they contained medicinal properties!</p><h5>Did we actually see this in action?</h5><figure class="image"><img alt="Chimpanzees.jpg" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/newsahoot.appspot.com/Chimpanzees_1583692681.jpg"><figcaption>&nbsp;Chimpanzees seen eating plants and tree bark. Photo by PLOS One.</figcaption></figure><p>Yes! A chimpanzee with an injured hand was seen eating leaves from a plant that might have anti-inflammatory effects. Scientists thought it helped reduce the pain and swelling.</p><p>Another chimpanzee with a parasitic infection was seen eating the bark of a tree that is generally not consumed by others. Tests showed that the bark has anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties.</p><h5>This is super cool!</h5><p>Scientists who conducted the study said that inflammatory diseases, like asthma and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newsahoot.com/articles/superbug-on-the-international-space-station">antibiotic-resistant bacteria</a>, are becoming a global challenge for humans.</p><p>So, they want to see whether the medicinal plants that the chimpanzees used could help develop new medicines that can help humans, too.</p>

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