WEBVTT - How Can Bacteria Change the World?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and this is a special episode because

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<v Speaker 1>a while back, iHeartRadio and the Metaverse invited me to

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<v Speaker 1>come to a video that was released exclusively on Roadblocks

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<v Speaker 1>and Fortnite, and in it they let me go on

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<v Speaker 1>pretty much as much as I wanted about bacteria. It

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<v Speaker 1>was a dream I never knew I had, so that

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<v Speaker 1>was a thing that I did. But now we wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to bring that script and all of the weird stuff

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<v Speaker 1>in it to you, because, Okay, bacteria are tiny organisms

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<v Speaker 1>that only consist of a single cell, without so much

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<v Speaker 1>as a cell nucleus to direct them. Yet they do

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<v Speaker 1>incredible things. They're all around us and inside us doing

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<v Speaker 1>cool stuff of their own accord. But we humans have

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<v Speaker 1>also harnessed them to do all kinds of work for us.

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<v Speaker 1>We've talked here before about the dirt bacteria response for petrocore,

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<v Speaker 1>which is the smell after a rain, and the gut

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria that lets squirrels build muscle even while they hibernate,

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<v Speaker 1>and the cyanobacteria that turned Earth's ancient ocean's pink for

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<v Speaker 1>eons before green algae hit the scene. Also over on

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<v Speaker 1>another podcast I do called Sabor, we talk all the

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<v Speaker 1>time about how the byproducts of bacteria that are just

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<v Speaker 1>living their lives help produce some of our favorite foods

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<v Speaker 1>and flavors, from tangy cheeses to crunchy pickles to rich

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<v Speaker 1>chocolate and coffee. And that's just stuff that we've already covered. Today,

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to go on a tour of the bacterial microverse.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's start our tour on a perhaps uncomfortably personal level,

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<v Speaker 1>of the bacteria in your guts. Okay, the community of

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<v Speaker 1>microorganisms that lives on and inside you is known as

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<v Speaker 1>the human microbiome. It's perhaps surprisingly large. Back in twenty sixteen,

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<v Speaker 1>scientists estimated that on average, you probably have slightly more

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<v Speaker 1>bacterial cells in your body than you have cells of

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<v Speaker 1>your own. A healthy microbiome helps your skin stay clear,

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<v Speaker 1>your guts, digest food, your immune system, learn how to fight.

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<v Speaker 1>Healthy gut microbes even seem to help reduce people's anxiety

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<v Speaker 1>and improve their mood. And research suggests that our microbiomes

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<v Speaker 1>have their own circadium rhythms just like we do, and

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<v Speaker 1>that these daily rhythms have a lot of impact on

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<v Speaker 1>our hell circadium rhythms are in organisms patterns of activity

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<v Speaker 1>and arrest throughout any given day and night. Okay, a

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<v Speaker 1>few years back, there was a study done in mice

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<v Speaker 1>using cutting edge DNA sequencing technology. The research team found

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<v Speaker 1>that the microbial communities living in the guts of mice

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<v Speaker 1>have a pretty regular routine. Different types of bacteria hang

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<v Speaker 1>out in their own areas of the intestines in the morning,

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<v Speaker 1>move around during the day, and end up in a

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<v Speaker 1>different place at then do it all over again. So

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<v Speaker 1>each part of a mouse's gut experiences differences in numbers

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<v Speaker 1>and species of bacteria over a twenty four hour period.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's not all. And this migration affected organs in

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<v Speaker 1>the mice that weren't even close to the gut. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>the daily rhythms of those gut bacteria, depending on the

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<v Speaker 1>time of day, changed the liver's ability to do its

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<v Speaker 1>job producing useful stuff and getting rid of waste. This

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<v Speaker 1>isn't just super weird, which it is, It could eventually

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<v Speaker 1>help doctors understand how the time of day and the

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<v Speaker 1>health of your microbiome may make a difference in treating

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<v Speaker 1>some diseases. Also, the researchers found that the mouse's own

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<v Speaker 1>circadian rhythms were essentially driven by those of its microbiome.

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<v Speaker 1>There was no separating the two. They said that we

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<v Speaker 1>should all think of ourself and our microbiome as a

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<v Speaker 1>single supra organism. But as much as we're still learning

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<v Speaker 1>about the bacteria that are most personal to us, humans

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<v Speaker 1>have figured out a lot of ways to put other

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria to work. Even though most are too small to

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<v Speaker 1>be seen without a microscope, their strength is in their numbers.

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<v Speaker 1>If you can convince bacteria to produce a certain substance,

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<v Speaker 1>and you can get them to thrive, a colony of

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria will produce that substance for you. On an industrial scale.

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<v Speaker 1>Everything from flavorings used in the food industry to human

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<v Speaker 1>insulin is made this way. Take butter flavoring. Originally, butter

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<v Speaker 1>was butter flavored because of helpful bacteria cultures that aid

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<v Speaker 1>in transforming liquid milk into this solid fat, which is butter.

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<v Speaker 1>As those bacteria worked, they also happened to excrete compounds

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<v Speaker 1>that we humans experience as flavors. Butter flavor is bacteria poop. However,

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of butter sold these days, certainly in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States, is what's called sweet cream butter which has

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<v Speaker 1>not gone through a bacterial culturing process and thus doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>taste particularly buttery. Some of this is just sold as is,

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<v Speaker 1>but some of it has butter flavor added in, and

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<v Speaker 1>in order to make that butter flavoring, sometimes scientists create

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<v Speaker 1>it in a lab that's called artificial flavoring. But sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>they turn back to bacteria and use bacterial colonies to

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<v Speaker 1>produce the flavor molecules that can be labeled natural flavoring.

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<v Speaker 1>And of course we apply both of these types, natural

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<v Speaker 1>and artificial to all kinds of baked goods, candies, and

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<v Speaker 1>popcorn seasonings. But we bend bacteria to for experimental uses too.

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<v Speaker 1>For example, take the team up of glowing bacteria and

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<v Speaker 1>lasers to detect and then disarm land mines. There may

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<v Speaker 1>be more than one hundred million land mines lurking underground

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<v Speaker 1>in former conflict zones around the world, and for a

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<v Speaker 1>long time, the best way to remove them was by

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<v Speaker 1>sending a volunteer into a mine field with a metal detector.

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<v Speaker 1>Not ideal. That's why a team of researchers engineered E.

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<v Speaker 1>Coli bacteria that glow when they encounter vapors from buried

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<v Speaker 1>land mines and other unexploded devices. It turns out that

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<v Speaker 1>all land mines leak explosive vapors that build up in

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<v Speaker 1>the soil directly above these devices. The living bacteria are

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<v Speaker 1>placed inside tiny polymer beads that drones then scatter across

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<v Speaker 1>the minefields. When they encounter the land mines's emissions, the

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria begin to fluoresce, and the researchers can use a

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<v Speaker 1>laser based system to map the terrain and identify danger zones.

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<v Speaker 1>Once the land mines have been found, specially trained humans

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<v Speaker 1>are still the most effective at disarming them, though robots

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<v Speaker 1>have also been engineered for the task. Meanwhile, other researchers

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<v Speaker 1>in other labs are tackling whole other problems, like shortages

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<v Speaker 1>of blood for transfusions. So, okay, humans have various blood types.

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<v Speaker 1>If you need a transfusion, say you're injured in an

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<v Speaker 1>accident or you're in the operating room awaiting a procedure,

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<v Speaker 1>you need the right type of blood, either the same

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<v Speaker 1>type as your own or type O negative, which is

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<v Speaker 1>considered universal, which means that everyone's body will accept it.

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<v Speaker 1>You can't give someone a transfusion of just any old

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<v Speaker 1>type of blood. Because red blood cells come with different

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<v Speaker 1>types of sugar molecules on their surface, and this is

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<v Speaker 1>what makes transfusions troublesome. Type B blood, for example, naturally

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<v Speaker 1>contains antibodies that will make your immune system attack the

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<v Speaker 1>sugars that occur on type A blood cells and vice versa,

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<v Speaker 1>and you do not want your immune system attacking your

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<v Speaker 1>new blood. Type O blood has neither of these sugars

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<v Speaker 1>on its surface, so it isn't attacked by anyone's immune system,

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<v Speaker 1>which is why Type O is in such great demand.

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<v Speaker 1>So some researchers out of Vancouver figured that if they

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<v Speaker 1>could destroy those pesky sugars, they could create typo blood

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<v Speaker 1>from any type of blood. And to find that weapon

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<v Speaker 1>of sugary destruction, we're going to have to go back

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<v Speaker 1>into your gut. In the walls of our intestines, there

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<v Speaker 1>are bacteria known to feed on similar sugars. So the

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<v Speaker 1>researchers got some samples of poop, isolated the bacteria, sequenced

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<v Speaker 1>their DNA, and found the genetic code for the enzymes

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<v Speaker 1>that the bacteria used to break down those sugars when

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<v Speaker 1>they eat them, and it worked. Research is ongoing to

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<v Speaker 1>make sure it's safe and scalable, but this could help

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<v Speaker 1>make blood shortages a thing of the past. A side

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<v Speaker 1>note here, I've been talking a lot today about genetic engineering,

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<v Speaker 1>which is a little bit controversial in some circles, mostly

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<v Speaker 1>due to fears and misunderstandings about what it entails. But

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<v Speaker 1>the thing is, it's just a technology. Can it be

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<v Speaker 1>used to a response. Sure. Like any tool, genetic engineering

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<v Speaker 1>can be used for good or ill. Like the same

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<v Speaker 1>telephone technology that keeps you in touch with your grandma

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<v Speaker 1>can also be used to scam your grandma. Genetic engineering

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<v Speaker 1>is just another type of tool, and it can be

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<v Speaker 1>used for awesome stuff or to scam grandma. But okay,

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<v Speaker 1>back to bacteria. Of course, not all of them are helpful.

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<v Speaker 1>Figuring out how to deal with ones that can make

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<v Speaker 1>us sick is tricky because they're generally really good at

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<v Speaker 1>what they do, and again, their strength is in numbers

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<v Speaker 1>and in quick life cycles. In the course of a

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<v Speaker 1>human lifetime, generations upon generations of bacteria can evolutionarily adapt

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<v Speaker 1>to resist our best weapons against them, like antibiotics. So

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<v Speaker 1>as you may have heard, traditional antibiotics are becoming less

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<v Speaker 1>effective at helping us stop bacterial infections. Antibiotics work by

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<v Speaker 1>slowing down or killing bacteria to the point that your

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<v Speaker 1>immune system can fight off an infection. But the specific

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<v Speaker 1>ways that a lot of the classics work tend to

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<v Speaker 1>be easily foiled by evolution. For example, lots of antibiotics

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<v Speaker 1>destroy bacteria by basically poking holes in their outer cell walls.

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<v Speaker 1>The critter's stronger cell walls survive and multiply, and future

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<v Speaker 1>generations aren't as likely to be harmed by poking. This

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<v Speaker 1>is a major problem because, okay, look, humans only discovered

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<v Speaker 1>antibiotics in nineteen twenty eight, less than one hundred years ago.

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<v Speaker 1>The ability of antibiotics to fight bacterial disease seemed so

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<v Speaker 1>rad that for decades we threw them at everything, even

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<v Speaker 1>mild infections, or to prevent possible infections in healthy farm animals,

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<v Speaker 1>or as a placebo in patients who had viral infections

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<v Speaker 1>yet demanded medicine. That's how we've wound up with antibiotic

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<v Speaker 1>resistant infections like methylne resistance Straphylococcus aureus also called MRS

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<v Speaker 1>because that's a lot easier to say. This is a

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<v Speaker 1>germ that used to just cause skin infections but can

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<v Speaker 1>now be deadly in hospital patients. So scientists are looking

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<v Speaker 1>into all kinds of new sources of antibiotics that might

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<v Speaker 1>work in different ways, like compounds that they've isolated from

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<v Speaker 1>cockroach brains or frog skin or platypus milk. I would

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<v Speaker 1>not kid you about platypus milk. But researchers are also

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<v Speaker 1>talking about switching from the brute force tactics of antibiotics

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<v Speaker 1>to actually outsmarting bacteria. But okay, how do you outsmart

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<v Speaker 1>something that doesn't have a brain or even a cell nucleus.

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<v Speaker 1>It turns out that despite all of this, bacteria do

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<v Speaker 1>communicate with each other. They're not texting emoji. This is

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<v Speaker 1>called quorum sensing. A quorum is the minimum number of

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<v Speaker 1>team members that you need to get something done, like

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<v Speaker 1>play basketball, or turn on or off different bits of

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<v Speaker 1>genetic code that might, for example, make a bacterium more

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<v Speaker 1>or less virulent to an infected host, or maybe it

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<v Speaker 1>makes the bacterium form a protective spores around itself. A

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria can sense a quorum through signaling molecules. These are

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<v Speaker 1>called autoinducers. The bacteria create and then emit them, either

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<v Speaker 1>passively or actively, depending on the situation, and so as

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<v Speaker 1>the bacterial population grows, so does the concentration of autoinducers

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<v Speaker 1>in their environment. Once it reaches a concentration detectable by

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<v Speaker 1>the bacteria, the signal is received and the bacteria make

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<v Speaker 1>a change for the good of themselves and the colony.

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<v Speaker 1>Also a fun and or terrifying fact, bacteria are not

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<v Speaker 1>limited to communicating with their own species. Some of these

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<v Speaker 1>signals work among different species of bacteria. This isn't always cooperative.

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<v Speaker 1>Some bacteria seem to engage in quorum sensing space pionage

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<v Speaker 1>while competing for resources. Anyway, lots of different research teams

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<v Speaker 1>are studying quorum sensing and looking for ways to disrupt

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<v Speaker 1>it or to artificially stimulate it in order to pass

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<v Speaker 1>false information around bacterial colonies. So they're looking into the

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<v Speaker 1>chemicals and enzymes used in the process, plus mechanisms that

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria have for creating and detecting them. But okay, all

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<v Speaker 1>of the bacterial shenanigans that we have discussed so far

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<v Speaker 1>today are happening right under, or on or in our noses.

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<v Speaker 1>But there are whole other bacterial worlds out there, and

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<v Speaker 1>one of them is deep under our own. An international

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<v Speaker 1>group of over a thousand scientists spent ten years uncovering

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<v Speaker 1>the secrets of deep life, a stunningly diverse population of

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<v Speaker 1>microscopic organisms miles inside Earth's surface. Some of those bacteria

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<v Speaker 1>and other mostly single celled organisms, live off of little

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<v Speaker 1>more than the energy of surrounding rocks and can survive

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<v Speaker 1>in temperatures hotter than boiling water. The project is called

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<v Speaker 1>Deep Carbon Observatory, and it aims to understand how carbon,

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<v Speaker 1>of this element that is essential to life as we

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<v Speaker 1>know it, forms and moves within the Earth. They estimate

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<v Speaker 1>the amount of carbon underneath the surface is hundreds of

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<v Speaker 1>times more than the carbon in every human being combined.

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<v Speaker 1>During the course of their studies, the scientists drilled over

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<v Speaker 1>one and a half miles that's two and a half

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<v Speaker 1>kilometers into the seafloor. They captured samples and mines and

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<v Speaker 1>boreholes from depths more than twice that. They took the

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<v Speaker 1>data from hundreds of sites to get an idea of

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<v Speaker 1>one ecosystem in subterranean rock. Looks like the biosphere that

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<v Speaker 1>they've uncovered is thought to be twice the volume of

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<v Speaker 1>all of our oceans. This new world underneath the surface

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<v Speaker 1>may be even more diverse than life on Earth. Yet

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<v Speaker 1>these might robes are nothing like life on Earth. Many

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<v Speaker 1>have life cycles measured in geologic terms. The implications of

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<v Speaker 1>these findings are wide ranging. These organisms can live and

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<v Speaker 1>thrive in highly pressurized environments with few nutrients, and in

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<v Speaker 1>temperatures that would kill organisms on the surface. They may

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<v Speaker 1>now give us clues about the possibility of life in

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<v Speaker 1>other areas, including on other planets. But on this world,

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<v Speaker 1>where we, again, unfortunately often try to exterminate all bacteria.

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<v Speaker 1>A team of scientists is designing a germ bank where

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<v Speaker 1>microbes can be stored out of harm's way and possibly

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<v Speaker 1>used to ward off disease in the future. The vault's

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<v Speaker 1>official name is the Microbiotic Vault. It would be used

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<v Speaker 1>to preserve microbes that are at risk of being wiped

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<v Speaker 1>off the planet as civilization moves into areas where nature

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<v Speaker 1>once ruled. Microbes that we don't even know about yet,

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<v Speaker 1>and catalog variants of more familiar ones. After all, the

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria in and around us have co evolved with us

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<v Speaker 1>for hundreds of thousands of years. They help us make

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<v Speaker 1>our food and digest our food. They can help us

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<v Speaker 1>manufacture life saving medicines and discover new solutions to all

0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:20.720
<v Speaker 1>kinds of problems. The least we can do is return

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<v Speaker 1>the favor because we have so much more to learn

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<v Speaker 1>from them. Today's episode is based on a number of

0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:34.800
<v Speaker 1>articles on HowStuffWorks dot com, including using glowing bacteria and

0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:38.480
<v Speaker 1>lasers to detect landlines written by Loreel Dove. How close

0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:40.760
<v Speaker 1>are we to creating a universal blood type? Written by

0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:44.840
<v Speaker 1>John Donovan, How do bacteria Communicate? Written by Molly Edmunds.

0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:48.760
<v Speaker 1>Ten weirdest sources for antibiotics written by Patrick J. Kiger,

0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:52.160
<v Speaker 1>And scientists call for a Global germ Bank written by

0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:56.080
<v Speaker 1>Chris Opford. But there's also some additional material written by me.

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<v Speaker 1>For more about how bacteria poop makes our food, check

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<v Speaker 1>out my other podcast as Saver and Hey, thanks to

0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:06.720
<v Speaker 1>iHeartRadio for the opportunity to visit iheartland in the metaverse,

0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.600
<v Speaker 1>which gave me the excuse to write this strange script.

0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:13.879
<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is producted of iHeartRadio in partnership with Houstifforks

0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:16.400
<v Speaker 1>dot com. It is produced by Tyler klang A. Four

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<v Speaker 1>more podcasts from my heart Radio. Visit the iHeartRadio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.