WEBVTT - 25 Greatest Science Ideas Countdown: Day 4 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:06.519 You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:09.320 and iHeartRadio. 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:12.840 Guess what Mango? 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:14.000 What's that will? 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:16.919 It's day four of our countdown of the twenty five 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:20.400 greatest science ideas from the past twenty five years. Can 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.680 you believe it? Just a few short days ago it 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:26.880 was day one of our twenty five greatest science ideas 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:28.040 in the past twenty five years. 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:30.160 I'm pretty sure you know you're doing something right when 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.120 you've got four sequels. What do you mean by that, Well, 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:36.600 George Lucas stars Star Wars basically with the fourth film, right. 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:39.959 Henry the fourth was such an interesting king that Shakespeare 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:41.840 wrote a play about him. But you didn't even bother 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:44.920 with Henry the Third, No not worthy and Rush Hour 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:47.120 four was so good at made Toy Story two seem 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:49.279 like Spider Man three. 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:51.480 I'm pretty sure you're just saying things now. 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:54.920 Yeah, you're right, but maybe you should just get into 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:58.240 the episode. Today we are covering ideas eight through five, 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:00.200 and if you want to know what makes us try 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.840 to various sounds so good, how a HeLa monster is 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:07.960 helping the world, and why a single injection might help 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:11.640 paralyze people walk again. You're gonna love this one. Let's 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:12.039 dive in. 0:01:33.880 --> 0:01:36.640 Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:38.759 Will Pearson, and of course I'm here with my friend 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:41.679 Mangesh hot Ticketter and over there in the booth gazing 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:44.560 wistfully at a portrait of David Dukovney. I don't know 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:47.760 where he got this thing, but it's a it's an 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:50.760 interesting portrait. It's our PALIN producer, Dylan Fagan. I mean, 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.040 I can't tell if this has anything to do with 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:54.280 today's episode. 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:55.800 They just like slax Files apparently. 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:57.600 Oh okay, well enjoy that, Dylan. 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:01.360 But speaking of fun, you your podcast listening life will 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:03.360 be a lot more fun if you're subscribed to Part 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:05.800 Time Genius on whatever app you use. And you can 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.280 make sure our lives are more fun by leaving us 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:08.959 a nice review. 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:11.480 We really appreciate everyone who takes the time to do that. 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:13.920 But all right, well let's get back to the countdown. 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:18.600 So one day in the early two thousands, a man 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:22.160 named Kai Ching Lee was strolling down in Oregon beach right, 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:26.760 and Lee is an engineering professor at Oregon State University, 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:30.480 and he was just enjoying his walk washing the Pacific Ocean, 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:33.880 just waves roll in and now, and suddenly he noticed 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:38.200 something along the coast. There were hundreds of muscles clinging 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:42.200 to rocks, and Lee was impressed with their strength. No 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:44.440 matter how violent the waves were, no matter how strong 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:47.000 the pull of the tide was, the muscles just stayed 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:50.080 in place there and when you actually tried pulling one away, 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:55.040 it wouldn't budge. And that got Lee thinking about plywood. 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:57.760 M had he also been to an Ikea recently that 0:02:57.840 --> 0:02:58.080 might have. 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:00.639 I mean, maybe I don't know, but I do know 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:04.280 that plywood is everywhere, not just furniture and cabinets, but 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.760 also walls, boats, fencing, toys, and for good reason. Like 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:11.800 plywood is super affordable because instead of a single solid 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:14.720 chunk of wood, it's made from thin layers glued together 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:17.640 into a slab. But it turns out the glue that 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:21.040 holds the plywood together is really kind of nasty. It's 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:24.120 often made with formaldehyde and other chemicals that you don't 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:26.840 want to breathe in, and in fact, there's research suggesting 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:30.040 that people who work in plywood manufacturing plants are at 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:34.280 increased risk of developing leukemia and other cancers. And that's 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:36.760 what Kaiching. Lee was thinking about that day on the beach, 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:40.200 how to make a better, safer plywood glue. 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:42.200 And if muscles can stick themselves to rocks, maybe they 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:43.640 could stick wood together too. 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:47.360 Yeah, so muscles. Natural adhesive has two big advantages over 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:51.119 traditional plywood glues. First of all, it's non toxic, and secondly, 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.680 it's waterproof. So if you've ever gotten plywood furniture wet, 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:57.040 you know what a pain it can be because if 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:00.200 the water isn't dried quickly, the wood layers can start peeling. 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:03.360 This is a known problem with industrial adhesives, like many 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:05.640 of them lose their stickiness in the presence of water, 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:07.760 but not muscle glue. 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:10.240 Right, but how do you get glue out of a muscle? 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:13.160 Yeah, it's a good question. So Lee realized right away 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:16.600 that would be difficult and expensive, not to mention unpleasant 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:19.200 for the muscles. But he headed to his lab to 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:21.360 see if he could cook up a synthetic version of 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:24.599 the muscle glue, and one day, while he was eating 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:29.039 his lunch, he had another light bulb moment. He realized, soybeans, 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:31.760 I love how this daily life was just handing him 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:34.240 the scientific answers that he needed. I know, it's just 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.520 inspiration is everywhere anyway. People have been making adhesis from 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:41.920 soy for decades. The problem is, soy based glues tend 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:45.640 to be weak and they're not waterproof. But Lee knew 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:49.160 that soybean, flower and muscle glue were made from similar 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:52.279 makeup of proteins and amino acids, and he wondered, what 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:55.359 if I altered the chemical profile of soybean glue to 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:58.360 make it more like the kind made by muscles. So, 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:00.960 with the help of a grant from the US, Lee 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:04.520 started tinkering with soy's chemical makeup, and by modifying the 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:07.960 amino acids in the bean, he successfully created an adhesive 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:11.240 that was just his waterproof and just as strong as 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:14.000 the glue made by muscles. In fact, the soybean based 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:17.080 glue was twice as sticky as hot glue, three times 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:20.200 stronger than Elmer's glue, and had about the same adhesive 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.040 power as contact cement. 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:25.600 And has this revolutionized the plywood industry or what? Yeah? 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:29.120 So it's definitely changed things. Like Lee presented his discovery 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:32.800 to Columbia Forest Products. They're a major plywood manufacturer, and 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:36.400 they quickly signed on. So fast forward to today, the 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:40.040 company has converted all of its factories from formaldehyde glues 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:43.240 to soy, and pollution rates that some of these plants 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:46.839 have dropped by as much as ninety percent. Wow, isn't 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:49.400 that insane? And other companies have joined them too, so 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:52.880 today soy based plywood is an option at most hardware 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.320 and home improvement stores. Other big companies like Ikea and 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:59.040 General Motors now use soy for some of their plywood 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:03.839 products because it's safer, stronger, and better for the planet. Anyway, 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:07.760 in honor of Lee's incredible discovery that changed home DIY forever, 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:10.559 we're running a contest on Instagram today. We're giving away 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:13.840 a home Depot. Gifts are to the get, and our 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:16.160 lawyers want to make it very very clear that this 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:18.600 is no way sponsored by Home Depot. But head over 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:20.960 to Instagram at part time Genius to get all the 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:22.280 details in enter. 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:25.960 All right, So I'd like to dedicate this next one 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:28.599 to all the violinists who have dreamed of owning a 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:32.880 Stratavius violin but can't stomach the instruments two million dollar 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:35.000 price tag. They're just not that serious about it, magat 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.720 they don't want to spend the two million, so here 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:38.800 we Yeah. 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:42.080 I would love to know how many professional violinists listen 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:45.040 to the show. But two million dollars is obviously a 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:47.320 steep price tag for a three hundred year old violin 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:50.240 that you're probably too scared to play anyway. 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:54.440 Indeed, but thanks to research from Swiss arborist Franz Schwartz, 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:57.760 there's now a cheaper alternative. And while the new instruments 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:00.480 don't carry the distinction of having been crafted by Italy's 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:04.080 most revered violin maker, they do boast a tone quality 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:07.000 that many experts consider to be just as good and 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:10.080 in some cases may be better, a claim that might 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:13.280 seem stunning enough, but the real shock is who's responsible 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:15.800 for the superior sound? Are you ready for this? 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:21.760 It's fungus like Geseppe fungus, the famous Italian violin maker. Nope, nope, 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:25.680 actual fungus that infested the wood used to make the instruments. 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:28.480 It is totally bizarre because in most cases, a fungal 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.400 attack destroys wood cell walls and it results in this 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:34.400 kind of loose soft wood that doesn't sound very pleasant 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:37.360 if it's made into an instrument. But at Schwartz discovered 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:40.360 in the late two thousands. There are rare cases where 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:43.440 fungal infections have a milder effect on the wood's density 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.560 and actually make it sound better. So what happens is 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:49.240 they thin out the wood cells structure just enough to 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:52.960 improve its acoustic properties. And so how did he figure 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.080 this out? Exactly? Like do arboris just go around knocking 0:07:56.120 --> 0:07:58.320 on trees to see what sounds they make? 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:00.640 I'm sure that's not how they describe, but it is 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:03.640 kind of like that. Scientists really do bounce sound waves 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:07.400 off of trees to gauge their health. The funkier the echo, 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:10.760 the more widespread the wood rot. And so Franz Schwartz 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:13.560 was using this method himself when he hatched the idea 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:17.040 for his fungal violin. He wondered how gentler kinds of 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:19.720 fungus might affect the sound of a wooden instrument, so 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:24.160 he partnered with Swiss violin maker Michael Ronheimer to find out. 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:27.720 They selected two different species of wood eating fungi for 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:30.080 the job. And while I won't bother to pronounce their 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:33.880 scientific names, I can tell you their nicknames their Rusty 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:37.520 crust and dead mule's fingers. So those are both. 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:39.720 Pretty good I'm not sure which is grosser, but I 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:41.280 think i'd go with rusty crust. 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:44.880 That is the right answer. But anyway, the top plate 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:48.359 of the violin, which was made of spruce, was inoculated 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:51.760 with rusty crust, and on the bottom, the sycamore plate 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:55.400 was treated with dead mule's fingers. Both plates were submerged 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:58.240 in a box of water to stimulate the fungui's growth, 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:01.240 and a few months later, after killing off the spores, 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:04.640 Ronheimer put the two halves together to create the world's 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:08.720 first bio violin. So Schwartz was blown away by the 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:12.600 instrument's sound, which he described as warmer and rounder than 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:15.520 that of a conventional violin, and he was so pleased 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:17.960 with it that he decided to stage a blind sound 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:21.440 test at an annual forestry conference in Germany, so on 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:24.760 September first, two thousand and nine a jury of acoustics 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:29.160 experts and conference attendees. They listened carefully as British violinist 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:33.120 Matthew Trussler played five different instruments from behind the curtain. 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:36.400 Four of the violins were made by Ronheimer, two of 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:39.200 them with fungus treated wood and the other two with 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:43.000 untreated wood. From the same trees, but the fifth instrument 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:47.199 came from Trustler's own collection, a violin made by Antonio 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:51.040 Strativeris himself way back in seventeen eleven. 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:54.920 So I guess the goal was to identify which one 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:57.240 was the true strat in the mix. 0:09:57.360 --> 0:10:00.079 That's exactly right. So attendees were asked to rank the 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:02.800 sound of each instrument they heard and to guess which 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:05.440 one of them was over three hundred years old. Schwartz 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:07.920 later admitted that as good as they sounded, he never 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:10.400 expected one of the fungal violins to be confused for 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:13.560 a multi million dollar instrument. But in the end, that 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:16.319 is exactly what happened. Out of more than one hundred 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:20.080 and eighty attendees, one hundred and thirteen of them thought 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:22.960 that one of Ronheimer's violins, which had been covered with 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:26.320 fung gui for nine months, was produced by stratuv Areas. 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:27.920 So it wasn't It wasn't even close. 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:30.600 No, I mean, the real strat came in a distant second, 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:33.920 but the other fungus violin claiming third place, and the 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:37.000 two untreated instruments pulling up the rear so like it 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:39.760 really does show the difference that it made I mean. 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:42.600 I get that, like a fungus could change the wood 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:46.040 and the sound of a violin, but like, why are 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:47.800 they comparable to stratavarius. 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:50.400 It's a good question, and honestly, no one can really 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:52.600 say for sure why is violin sound as good as 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:54.560 they do. The best guess is that it's due to 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:57.760 the weather in Italy during his lifetime, so strata areas 0:10:57.760 --> 0:10:59.960 happened to live through what people knew as central yuar 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:03.120 rops little ice age. This happened in the seventeenth century, 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:06.760 and it brought long winters and cool summers to the region. 0:11:07.080 --> 0:11:10.120 So the unusually chilly temperatures would have slowed the cell 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:12.959 growth of the local trees there, causing their wood to 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:17.000 develop more slowly and uniformly, which was the perfect recipe 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:20.600 for producing wood with stellar acoustics. So, according to Schwartz, 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:23.199 the fungi treatment he used was able to recreate that 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:24.400 same ideal structure. 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:27.520 That's really cool. But if a fungus violin produces a 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:30.319 richer sound, why don't they do that for all violins now? 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.440 Well, partly because not every violin needs the same tonal 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:36.880 quality as the strativarius. Like it's nice to have different options, 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:39.400 but the main reason is that Schwartz and his colleagues 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:42.000 are still working out the details on how you'd actually 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:44.680 mass produce these. Once they do, the plan is to 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:47.560 sell the instruments for about thirty thousand dollars each, which 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.040 sounds like a lot, but it's actually about what you'd 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:52.720 pay for other high quality violins. 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:53.920 And a lot less than two million dollars. 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:55.400 Definitely, you're good at math. 0:11:57.240 --> 0:11:59.520 We've got a pause for a quick break, but we'll 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:18.480 be back more great science ideas right after. Welcome back 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.400 to part time genius listeners, and we are counting down 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:25.880 to number Okay, So I'm not going to beat around 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:29.720 the bush on this one. This research totally blew my mind. 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:33.800 So scientists and Northwestern University have developed a new treatment 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:37.600 for spinal cord injuries that allowed paralyzed mice to walk 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:42.080 again after a single injection. Not only that, the treatment 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:45.280 has loads of other applications, potentially impacting the way we 0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:50.600 treat everything from bone loss to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:52.400 I can't I've never heard of this. I mean, it 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:54.560 sounds like a real life cure. All yeah, I mean, 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:57.439 it's still early days. From the research perspective, the team's 0:12:57.480 --> 0:12:59.840 big breakthrough was only back in twenty twenty one, but 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:03.679 so far the data is really incredible and promising. So 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:06.120 just to give a little background on why this is 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:09.040 such a big deal, They're currently about three hundred thousand 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:12.280 people living with a spinal cord injury in the US alone, 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:15.440 and in the most severe cases, less than three percent 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:18.960 of them will ever recover any basic physical functions. The 0:13:18.960 --> 0:13:21.080 reason for that is that the neurons and their spinal 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:25.079 cords have been completely severed, and thus far as scientists 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:28.280 haven't been able to find therapeutics that can successfully trigger 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:31.960 spinal cord regeneration. But that changed with the study from 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:36.280 Northwestern University. So researchers were able to reverse paralysis and 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:40.720 mice by injecting them with something they called dancing molecules. 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:43.400 I've actually never heard of that either, so I'm curious 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.360 that are the molecules themselves dancing or is it that 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:49.520 they can restore the mouse's ability to dance? What are 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:50.240 we referring to? 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:52.720 Yeah, so no word on whether the mice can dance 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:55.520 before or after the treatment, but the molecules that were 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:59.960 injected absolutely can dance. So after being injected as a liquid, 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:04.760 the molecules coalesced to form tiny synthetic nanofibers that surround 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:08.480 the spinal cord. And the fibers were composed of tens 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.200 of hundreds of thousands of molecules, and the researchers found 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:14.120 that by changing their chemical structure, they could control the 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:17.120 molecule's collective motion. This allowed them to fine tune the 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:20.720 synthetic molecules movements, speeding them up to match the motion 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:24.360 of biological molecules within the spinal cord. It turned out 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.520 that the most hyperactive molecules, the ones that were dancing 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:31.160 the most, were able to connect more effectively with receptors 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:32.800 in neurons and other cells. 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:36.040 So once the molecules made that connection, they were able 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:39.920 to like tell the cells to repair the damage neurons. 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:43.880 Yeah, So the dancing molecules triggered to bioactive signals. The 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:47.560 first prompted the tails of the neurons to regenerate and 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:50.600 that effectively restored communication between the body and the brain, 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:54.840 and the second signal promoted the regrowth of lost blood 0:14:54.880 --> 0:14:57.520 cells that feed the neurons and other cells related to 0:14:57.520 --> 0:15:00.560 tissue repair, and the result of this intervention was that 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:04.560 after just four weeks, these paralyzed mice could regain the 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:06.720 ability to walk, which is just stunning. 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:08.840 Yeah, and it's also kind of a testament to the 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:10.560 power of dance if you think about it, because it 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:12.400 sounds like the approach didn't work so well when they 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:15.080 tried it with more sluggish molecules. 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:18.280 Yeah, that souped up molecular motion really was the key 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:21.040 factor in all of this. The cells and receptors within 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:23.960 the body are constantly moving, so once the team was 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.840 able to match that speed or vibration, the fast moving 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:31.040 molecules encountered the receptors much more often, and that allowed 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:33.720 them to send their signals again and again. The breakthrough 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:37.920 therapy actually has obvious implications for improving the spinal injuries 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:41.280 of both humans and animals, but there's reasons to hope 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:44.560 that the underlying discovery could also be used in other treatments, 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:47.120 as we allude to before. According to the studies, lead 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:51.160 researchers Samuel Stupp quote, the central nervous system tissues we 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:54.920 have successfully regenerated in the injured spinal cord are similar 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:58.680 to those in the brain affected by stroke and neurodegenerative 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:03.880 diseases such as als, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Beyond that, our 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:07.440 fundamental discovery about controlling the motion of molecular assemblies to 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:12.840 enhance cells signaling could be applied universally across biomedical targets. 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:15.680 Okay, so they're thinking they could fine tune molecules to 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:18.520 match the motion of other damage cells, not just the 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:20.040 ones in the spinal cord exactly. 0:16:20.120 --> 0:16:22.480 And the most amazing part is they've already done it. 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:25.600 So just last year, the team from Northwestern applied their 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:30.040 strategy to damaged human cartilage cells and they found some success. Now, 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:33.040 normally there's no way for humans to regenerate the tissues 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:36.240 in our joints once we reach adulthood. So if you 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:39.080 have a disease in which cartilage breaks down over time, 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:41.320 you eventually get to a point where the bone is 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:44.720 grinding against the bone with no cushion between them. And 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:48.320 currently the only treatment for this is joint replacement surgery, 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:52.680 which is extremely invasive and also very expensive. But once again, 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:55.520 the team here has found a much better solution. So 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:59.560 using their injectable therapy, they were able to spur cartilage 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:03.120 regeneration and damaged cells within just a matter of days, 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:05.960 and once again it was the molecules dancing that triggered 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.280 the process. So building on that second success, the team's 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:12.840 next goal is to test the therapy's effectiveness at regenerating 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:17.800 bone and from there the sky's limit because, as Stuff explained, quote, 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:20.560 now we have observed the effects in two cell types 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:24.080 that are completely disconnected from one another, cartilage cells in 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:26.600 our joints and neurons in our brain and spinal cord. 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:29.320 This makes me more confident that we might have discovered 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.480 a universal phenomena and it could be applied to many 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:33.280 other tissues. 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:35.560 That really is amazing. So what's the status of the 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:36.520 spinal cord repair? 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:36.600 Like? 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:38.760 Have they been able to test this in humans yet? 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:42.240 Fortunately not. The team's been petitioning the FDA for approval 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:44.840 to start clinical trials, but so far it's yet to 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:45.440 be granted. 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:47.800 Well, I hope it does come through sooner rather than later, 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.240 and it sounds like something that could seriously change people's 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:52.160 lives and of course the lives of mice as well. 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.120 Yeah, we'll have them all dancing again soon. 0:17:56.520 --> 0:17:59.359 Well, our next breakthrough is a reminder that medical advances 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.760 can truly come from anywhere, even from inside the mouth 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:05.720 of a venomous lizard. Now we know this for a 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:08.440 fact thanks to the work of doctor John Aang. He's 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:11.359 an endocrinologist and VA researcher who found a way to 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:15.399 stimulate the insulin producing cells in the pancreas using a 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:18.879 hormone found in wait for it, the saliva of a 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:19.720 HeLa monster. 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:23.000 I feel like there's no way to make that not 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:23.920 sound crazy. 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:26.919 Yeah, Well, just to be clear, helo monsters are not, 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:30.639 in fact, spased monsters or aliens. They're big, desert dwelling 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:34.000 lizards native to the southwestern United States. They can grow 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:36.359 to be about twenty inches in length and are easy 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:39.520 to recognize thanks to their splotchy orange and black coloring. No, 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:41.479 it's rare to see one in person, though, since they 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:44.920 spend about ninety percent of their lives underground and only 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:46.720 come to the surface when it's time to eat. 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:49.320 I mean, if you dc one, you should probably clear away, 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:50.640 right because they're pretty venomous. 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:52.680 Well, you really don't want to mess with one of 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:55.160 these guys. They have a pretty powerful bite, and because 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:57.719 their main defense is to pump you full of venom, 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:00.199 they tend to hang on to whatever they chomp on 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:04.640 for as long as possible, and the venom glends are 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:07.680 inside their mouths obviously, right yeah, and they're they're lower jaws, 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:10.440 I think. So the longer a helo monster clamps down, 0:19:10.480 --> 0:19:13.359 the more venom is injected through their teeth and into 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:16.320 the bite wound. It was unfortunate enough to have been bitten, 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:19.960 say the venom stings like molten lava, So these people 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:22.600 have not only been bitten, but they also have experienced 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:27.840 molten lava. Apparently are unlucky to keep rough, but for 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:30.919 people with type two diabetes, it actually can be a 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:31.680 life saver. 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:35.600 Which is wild. So how did doctor Ang even think 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:38.600 to try this? Like, like, why was messing around with 0:19:38.720 --> 0:19:42.320 helo monster spit like the first thing you was thinking about? 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:44.800 I actually wondered that too. But keep in mind that 0:19:44.840 --> 0:19:48.600 medications derived from animal venom aren't that unusual. Sure, the 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:51.880 venom of snakes, scorpion, spiders, even the world's only other 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:55.720 venomous lizard, the komodo dragon. They've all contributed to different 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:58.720 treatments over the years, and some of the existing research 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:01.399 is what convinced doctor Ng that helo monsters might be 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:04.359 helpful for treating diabetes. So let's go back to the 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:07.240 nineteen eighties, when doctor Ng was practicing as a physician 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:09.760 and a researcher at the VA Hospital in the Bronx. 0:20:10.240 --> 0:20:13.720 He was working to discover new animal hormones with medical potential, 0:20:13.920 --> 0:20:16.960 and since he was an endocrinologist, he was especially interested 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:20.320 in ones that might treat diabetes. This eventually led him 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:23.280 to an article from the National Institutes of Health about 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:26.560 the effects of certain snake and lizard venoms on the pancreas. 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:29.960 Studies showed that some venoms, including that of the Helo monster, 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:34.120 could trigger inflammation in the pancreas where insulin is produced. Now, 0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:36.639 this convinced doctor Ing that the HeLa monster venom was 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:39.520 worth a closer look, and so in nineteen ninety two 0:20:39.960 --> 0:20:43.120 he discovered a new hormone in the animals, salivam, which 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:46.600 he called extendin four Now. When he tested the compound 0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:49.000 on mice, he was shocked to find that it reduced 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:52.959 their blood glucose levels by stimulating the insulin producing cells 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:55.840