WEBVTT - Could Platypus Milk Fight Antibiotic-Resistant Disease?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogel bomb here. In the late eighteenth century, British

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<v Speaker 1>zoologist George Shaw was asked to examine a specimen of

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<v Speaker 1>a newly discovered creature fresh off the boat from Australia.

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<v Speaker 1>He was one of the first scientists to clap eyes

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<v Speaker 1>on the beaver duck that we call a platypus, and

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<v Speaker 1>he understandably thought he was the but of a practical joke.

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<v Speaker 1>He wrote, after examining the noble creature, it naturally excites

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<v Speaker 1>the idea of some deceptive preparation by artificial means. And

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<v Speaker 1>it's not like the platypus's outlandish appearance is just a

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<v Speaker 1>cover for an unremarkable physiology and life history. This egg

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<v Speaker 1>laying mammal choose its food with gravel because it lacks teeth.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, it doesn't even have a stomach, but an

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<v Speaker 1>esophagus that connects directly to its intestines. The males have

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<v Speaker 1>venomous spurs on their hind legs, and they don't use

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<v Speaker 1>their tails to steer or propel themselves through the water,

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<v Speaker 1>but to store body fat. And their bills are so

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<v Speaker 1>sensitive that they can detect the electromagnetic fields radiated by

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<v Speaker 1>other organisms, allowing them to swim with their ears, eyes,

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<v Speaker 1>and nose closed. But listen, y'all, it gets weirder platypuses

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<v Speaker 1>and yes, you can also say platypi or platipodes if

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<v Speaker 1>you want. Nurse they're young, but they don't have nipples,

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<v Speaker 1>so the milk to sort of oozes out of their

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<v Speaker 1>mammary glands and the babies lap it up off their

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<v Speaker 1>mother's fur. And if you think that might be a

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<v Speaker 1>bit on sanitary, especially for an animal that swims around

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<v Speaker 1>in farm ponds all day, you'd be right. But don't worry.

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<v Speaker 1>Platypus evolution came up with a solution to the problem

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<v Speaker 1>of bacteria. Study found that while all mammals milk has

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<v Speaker 1>antibacterial properties, platypus milk seems to have very special antimicrobial powers.

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<v Speaker 1>A study published in March in the journal Structural Biology

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<v Speaker 1>Communications reports that the biochemical reason for the germ busting

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<v Speaker 1>properties of platypus milk is predictably weird. It contains a

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<v Speaker 1>protein with a unique and previously unknown structure that might

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<v Speaker 1>be key in fighting bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics.

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<v Speaker 1>What makes this monotream lactation protein or MLP so strange

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<v Speaker 1>is its shape. Its folds form tight ringlets, which is

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<v Speaker 1>why it was Christian to the Shirley Temple protein after

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<v Speaker 1>the iconic hair of the child Star. The research team

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<v Speaker 1>managed to recreate the MLP in the lab, purify it,

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<v Speaker 1>crystallize it, and then use X rays to determine its

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<v Speaker 1>three D structure at the atomic level, a structure that

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<v Speaker 1>has never been seen in any of the hundred thousand

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<v Speaker 1>proteins discovered to date. Lead study author Janet Newman said,

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<v Speaker 1>the most exciting thing for me was to see a

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<v Speaker 1>protein shape that had never been seen before. It's like

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<v Speaker 1>being a florist and seeing a completely new flower. So

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<v Speaker 1>how could this fancy new antibacterial protein be used to

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<v Speaker 1>fight superbugs? According to Newman, the research team plans to

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<v Speaker 1>begin by figuring out the relationship between the extra curly

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<v Speaker 1>form of the protein and its bacteria killing powers. She said,

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<v Speaker 1>in theory, there are a number of approaches. We could

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<v Speaker 1>tweak the structure a little by making site directed mutants

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<v Speaker 1>of the protein in the lab. This would allow us

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<v Speaker 1>to see how the activity changes each time, until we

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<v Speaker 1>build up an understanding of the mechanism of how this works,

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<v Speaker 1>or maybe we could use some form of the protein

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<v Speaker 1>to try to isolate its binding partner on the bacterium,

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<v Speaker 1>which might be some structure on the outside of the bacterium.

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<v Speaker 1>According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistant bacterial infections

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<v Speaker 1>are becoming a serious threat to public health worldwide. The

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<v Speaker 1>heavy use of antibiotics and intensive animal farming, as well

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<v Speaker 1>as overuse in human hospitals, has led to the rise

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<v Speaker 1>and spread of these heavy duty microbes. Diseases like salmonella, pneumonia, tuberculosis,

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<v Speaker 1>and gnarrhea, all once easily treated with antibiotics, are becoming

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<v Speaker 1>less responsive to the drugs used to treat them. In

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<v Speaker 1>the World Health Organization warned that we may be approaching

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<v Speaker 1>a post antibiotic era, wherein antibiotics will no longer be

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<v Speaker 1>effective in fighting infection. This would make everything from childbirth

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<v Speaker 1>to organ transplants very difficult again. But maybe platypus milk

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<v Speaker 1>can help. It's predictably so crazy that it just might work.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Jesselyn Shields and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other

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<v Speaker 1>beautifully bizarre topics, visit our home planet, how stuff works

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<v Speaker 1>dot com