Those who subscribe to the idea that fire is best fought with fire may not be surprised to learn that flesh-eating crocodiles are now being used to combat flesh-eating bacteria.
In fact, proteins from the killer reptile are showing promise in a whole range of medical treatments for their antibacterial properties.
Given the waning effectiveness of many antibiotics, experts have been racing to find new sources.
But as major pharmaceutical companies in America are reportedly already hard at work developing products using crocodile blood and oils, crocodile researcher Grahame Webb is urging the Northern Territory to get involved.
He points out there are very few areas where Australia's least-populated jurisdiction can compete on the world stage and crocodiles is certainly one of them.
"Could it be something where we could do something very pivotal? Yes I think we could," Dr Webb said.
"We've got lots of crocs. We've got lots of knowledge about the crocs. We've got all sorts of variables we can work with up here."
But while he said the NT used to be a leader in crocodile research internationally, the NT Government currently does not allocate any funding to investigating the use of crocodiles in the medical industry.
When Louisiana professor Mark Merchant got to thinking about how crocodiles and alligators rarely suffer from serious infections, even though they regularly brawl viciously in dirty swamps, he came to Darwin to investigate.
Professor Merchant, who now works in McNeese State University's Chemistry Department, worked with researchers at Darwin's Crocodylus Park to investigate the species' immunity mechanisms.
More than a decade ago Darwin and American researchers teamed up to investigate the use of crocodile blood in antibiotics. But one expert says while American companies are now seizing on the science, the Territory has been left behind.
They worked to isolate the antibodies that protect crocodiles from serious infection in 2005.
This month, Mr Merchant told the ABC he had been able to isolate a small protein in the white blood cells of alligators that effectively killed bacteria and fungi.
"We think that they can be used as a new source of antibiotics for human and veterinary use," Mr Merchant said.
He confirmed American pharmaceutical companies were now looking at making products to target bacterial, and potentially fungal, infections based on the science.
However he was not able say which companies, for commercial reasons.
Meanwhile, researchers in Thailand published a paper in the Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology last year, that found compounds extracted from crocodiles were effective in acne treatment.
The Journal of Infectious Diseases and Immunity also published an article last year, detailing how farmed crocodiles were being used to develop human vaccines.
Dr Webb, who chairs the IUCN's crocodile research group of 624 members in 64 countries, claimed he had seen evidence of crocodile compounds used to treat flesh-eating bacteria in the Philippines and believed it was also being investigated by the military for wound-healing purposes.
But despite the gains being made by overseas companies, Dr Webb said he was not aware of any companies looking into crocodile-based medicine in Australia — providing a potential opening for the Territory.
"It'd be just lovely if people here were interested to take on some honours projects," he said.
"You need post-graduate students to get involved in this type of stuff and do some objective tests.
"Because there just may be more uses to this thing than everyone realises and we're in such a classic position to do it if we can spark the interest."
However he said that would require research funding, which had been hard to come by in recent decades.
"We had a massive research presence, we were really leading the world," he said.
"But then the political machinery sort of decided 'Oh no, no more research'.
"That's how we had to separate our self and try to keep research going privately. Which you know in the end it's very, very difficult."
The NT Government said it could find no evidence of it cutting funding to crocodile research programs in recent decades.
However it confirmed it currently does not provide any funding to researching the use of crocodiles in the medical field.
But an NT Crocodile Farming Strategic Plan references the potential to commercialise by-products from farmed crocodiles, noting that "crocodile blood, oil, bile and gall bladder have been commercialised for medicinal uses in Asia and, to a lesser extent, in Mexico and South America and African countries".
Charles Darwin University and the Federal Government did not respond to requests for comment before publication.