WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Could Platypus Milk Fight Antibiotic-Resistant Disease?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. In today's episode is a

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<v Speaker 1>classic from our archives. In this one, we discuss the

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<v Speaker 1>charmingly bizarre platypus and how it's milk maybe humanity's best

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<v Speaker 1>hope against an antibiotic resistant future. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here.

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<v Speaker 1>In the late eighteenth century, British zoologist George Shaw was

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<v Speaker 1>asked to examine a specimen of a newly discovered creature

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<v Speaker 1>fresh off the boat from Australia. He was one of

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<v Speaker 1>the first scientists to clap eyes on the beaver duck

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<v Speaker 1>that we call a platypus, and he understandably thought he

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<v Speaker 1>was the but of a practical joke. He wrote, after

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<v Speaker 1>examining the noble creature, it naturally excites the idea of

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<v Speaker 1>some deceptive preparation by artificial means. And it's not like

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<v Speaker 1>the platypus's outlandish appearance is just a cover for an

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<v Speaker 1>unremarkable physiology and life history. This egg laying mammal use

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<v Speaker 1>its food with gravel because it lacks teeth. In fact,

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

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<v Speaker 1>connects directly to its intestines. The males have venomous spurs

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>store body fat. And their bills are so sensitive that

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<v Speaker 1>they can detect the electromagnetic fields radiated by other organisms,

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<v Speaker 1>allowing them to swim with their ears, eyes, and nose closed.

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<v Speaker 1>But listen, y'all, it gets weirder. Platypuses, and yes, you

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<v Speaker 1>can also say platypi or platipodes if you want. Nurse.

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<v Speaker 1>They're young, but they don't have nipples, so the milk

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<v Speaker 1>to sort of oozes out of their mammary glands and

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<v Speaker 1>the babies lap it up off their mother's fur. And

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<v Speaker 1>if you think that might be a bit on sanitary,

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<v Speaker 1>especially for an animal that swims around in farm ponds

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<v Speaker 1>all day, you'd be right. But don't worry. Platypus evolution

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<v Speaker 1>came up with a solution to the problem of bacteria.

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<v Speaker 1>Study found that while all mammals milk has antibacterial properties,

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<v Speaker 1>platypus milk seems to have very special antimicrobial powers. A

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

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>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 care 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 in 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 is based on the article Platopus milk Our

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<v Speaker 1>best hope against an antibiotic resistant future on how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot Com, written by Jesslyn Shields. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler clang Or

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