1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,200 Speaker 1: brain Stuff. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. In today's episode is a 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:13,040 Speaker 1: classic from our archives. In this one, we discuss the 4 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: charmingly bizarre platypus and how it's milk maybe humanity's best 5 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: hope against an antibiotic resistant future. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: In the late eighteenth century, British zoologist George Shaw was 7 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: asked to examine a specimen of a newly discovered creature 8 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:34,479 Speaker 1: fresh off the boat from Australia. He was one of 9 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:37,319 Speaker 1: the first scientists to clap eyes on the beaver duck 10 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,519 Speaker 1: that we call a platypus, and he understandably thought he 11 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:43,480 Speaker 1: was the but of a practical joke. He wrote, after 12 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:47,839 Speaker 1: examining the noble creature, it naturally excites the idea of 13 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:52,519 Speaker 1: some deceptive preparation by artificial means. And it's not like 14 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: the platypus's outlandish appearance is just a cover for an 15 00:00:55,840 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 1: unremarkable physiology and life history. This egg laying mammal use 16 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: its food with gravel because it lacks teeth. In fact, 17 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: it doesn't even have a stomach, but an esophagus that 18 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: connects directly to its intestines. The males have venomous spurs 19 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 1: on their hind legs, and they don't use their tails 20 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 1: to steer or propel themselves through the water, but to 21 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: store body fat. And their bills are so sensitive that 22 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,040 Speaker 1: they can detect the electromagnetic fields radiated by other organisms, 23 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 1: allowing them to swim with their ears, eyes, and nose closed. 24 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: But listen, y'all, it gets weirder. Platypuses, and yes, you 25 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:34,320 Speaker 1: can also say platypi or platipodes if you want. Nurse. 26 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,040 Speaker 1: They're young, but they don't have nipples, so the milk 27 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: to sort of oozes out of their mammary glands and 28 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:41,959 Speaker 1: the babies lap it up off their mother's fur. And 29 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: if you think that might be a bit on sanitary, 30 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,119 Speaker 1: especially for an animal that swims around in farm ponds 31 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: all day, you'd be right. But don't worry. Platypus evolution 32 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: came up with a solution to the problem of bacteria. 33 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: Study found that while all mammals milk has antibacterial properties, 34 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: platypus milk seems to have very special antimicrobial powers. A 35 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: study published in March in the journal Structural Biology Communications 36 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: reports that the biochemical reason for the germ busting properties 37 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: of platypus milk is predictably weird. It contains a protein 38 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,080 Speaker 1: with a unique and previously unknown structure that might be 39 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 1: key in fighting bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics. 40 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 1: What makes this monotream lactation protein or MLP so strange 41 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: is its shape. Its folds form tight ringlets, which is 42 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 1: why it was Christian to the Shirley Temple protein after 43 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: the iconic care of the child Star. The research team 44 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: managed to recreate the MLP in the lab, purify it, 45 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: crystallize it, and then use X rays to determine its 46 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 1: three D structure at the atomic level, a structure that 47 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: has never been seen in any of the hundred thousand 48 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:54,360 Speaker 1: proteins discovered to date. Lead study author Janet Newman said, 49 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: the most exciting thing for me was to see a 50 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,080 Speaker 1: protein shape that had never been seen before. It's like 51 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:02,959 Speaker 1: being a florist in seeing a completely new flower. So 52 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: how could this fancy new antibacterial protein be used to 53 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: fight superbugs? According to Newman, the research team plans to 54 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: begin by figuring out the relationship between the extra curly 55 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: form of the protein and its bacteria killing powers. She said. 56 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,519 Speaker 1: In theory, there are a number of approaches. We could 57 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: tweak the structure a little by making site directed mutants 58 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:25,640 Speaker 1: of the protein in the lab. This would allow us 59 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 1: to see how the activity changes each time until we 60 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: build up an understanding of the mechanism of how this works. 61 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: Or maybe we could use some form of the protein 62 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: to try to isolate its binding partner on the bacterium, 63 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: which might be some structure on the outside of the bacterium. 64 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistant bacterial infections 65 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: are becoming a serious threat to public health worldwide. The 66 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: heavy use of antibiotics and intensive animal farming, as well 67 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: as overuse in human hospitals, has led to the rise 68 00:03:55,960 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: and spread of these heavy duty microbes. Diseases like salmonella, pneumonia, tuberculosis, 69 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: and gnarrhea, all once easily treated with antibiotics, are becoming 70 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: less responsive to the drugs used to treat them. In 71 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 1: the World Health Organization warned that we may be approaching 72 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: a post antibiotic era, wherein antibiotics will no longer be 73 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: effective in fighting infection. This would make everything from childbirth 74 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: to organ transplants very difficult again, but maybe platypus milk 75 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: can help. It's predictably so crazy that it just might work. 76 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article Platopus milk Our 77 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,239 Speaker 1: best hope against an antibiotic resistant future on how stuff 78 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,480 Speaker 1: works dot Com, written by Jesslyn Shields. Brain Stuff is 79 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff 80 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,599 Speaker 1: works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler clang Or 81 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, 82 00:04:50,800 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.