WEBVTT - Dancing Molecules and a Plywood Miracle! 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.120 Hey everyone, it's Mango here. With summer winding down, we 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:05.720 are taking a little break, but we will be back 0:00:05.760 --> 0:00:09.600 with brand new episodes starting September ninth, and we have 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:12.760 been working hard on so many fun episodes this summer. 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:15.400 I cannot wait for you to listen to them. In 0:00:15.440 --> 0:00:18.560 the meantime, we are re airing our countdown of the 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:21.600 twenty five greatest science ideas of the past twenty five years. 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:26.439 This list was so joyous to make. Mary and Gabe 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:29.639 did all this extra research for it. We pulled in 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:33.800 contributors for various places. We got incredible songs written for 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.639 the show. The whole thing is bizarre and delightful and 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:42.200 fascinating and joyous, and honestly, I just hope you enjoy 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:44.840 it half as much as we enjoyed making it. Let's 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:51.440 dig in. You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:53.560 of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:01.120 Guess what, Mango, What's that will? It's day four of 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:04.280 our countdown of the twenty five greatest science ideas from 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:07.120 the past twenty five years. Can you believe it? Just 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:11.039 a few short days ago it was day one of 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:13.319 our twenty five Greatest Science Ideas of the past twenty 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:13.839 five years. 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:15.960 I'm pretty sure you know you're doing something right when 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:17.320 you've got four sequels. 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:18.240 What do you mean by that? 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:22.400 Well, George Lucas stars Star Wars basically with the fourth film, right, 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:25.760 Henry the fourth was such an interesting king that Shakespeare 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:27.640 wrote a play about him. But you didn't even bother 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:28.640 with Henry the Third. 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:29.480 No, not worth it. 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:32.240 And Rush Hour four was so good it made Toy 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:35.120 Story two seem like Spider Man three. 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:37.280 I'm pretty sure you're just saying things now. 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:40.720 Yeah, you're right, but maybe you should just get into 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:44.080 the episode. Today we are covering ideas eight through five, 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:46.560 and if you want to know what makes the Stratavarius 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:50.680 sound so good, how a HeLa monster is helping the world, 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:55.400 and why a single injection might help paralyze people walk again, 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:57.880 you're gonna love this one. Let's dive in. 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:22.440 Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm 0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:24.560 Will Pearson, and of course I'm here with my friend 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.480 Mangush hot ticketter and over there in the booth gazing 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.400 wistfully at a portrait of David Dukovney. I don't know 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:34.440 where he got this thing, but it's an interesting portrait. 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:37.080 It's our Palin producer, Dylan Fagan. Now, Mango, I can't 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:40.079 tell if this has anything to do with today's episode. 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:41.639 They just like slax Files apparently. 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:43.440 Oh okay, well enjoy that, Dylan. 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:47.239 But speaking of fun, your podcast listening life will be 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:49.399 a lot more fun if you're subscribed to Part Time 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:51.800 Genius on whatever app you use, and you can make 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:54.200 sure our lives are more fun by leaving us a 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:54.760 nice review. 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:57.280 We really appreciate everyone who takes the time to do that. 0:02:57.440 --> 0:02:59.720 But all right, well, let's get back to the countdown. 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:04.399 So one day in the early two thousands, a man 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:07.959 named Kai Ching Lee was strolling down in Oregon beach right, 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:12.560 and Lee is an engineering professor at Oregon State University, 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:16.280 and he was just enjoying his walk washing the Pacific Ocean, 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:19.720 just waves roll in and now, and suddenly he noticed 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:24.000 something along the coast. There were hundreds of mussels clinging 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:28.040 to rocks, and Lee was impressed with their strength. No 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:30.280 matter how violent the waves were, no matter how strong 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:32.840 the pull of the tide was, the muscles just stayed 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:35.880 in place there and when he actually tried pulling one away, 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:40.880 it wouldn't budget and that got Lee thinking about plywood. 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:43.880 M had he also been to an Ikea recently. 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:45.520 That might have I mean, maybe I don't know, but 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:49.480 I do know that plywood is everywhere, not just furniture 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:52.680 and cabinets, but also walls, boats, fencing, toys, and for 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:56.800 good reason. Like plywood is super affordable because instead of 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.200 a single solid chunk of wood, it's made from thin 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:01.280 layers together into a slab. 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:01.560 Right. 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:04.320 But it turns out the glue that holds the plywood 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:07.560 together is really kind of nasty. It's often made with 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:10.640 formaldehyde and other chemicals that you don't want to breathe in. 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:13.480 And in fact, there's research suggesting that people who work 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:17.600 in plywood manufacturing plants are at increased risk of developing 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:21.200 leukemia and other cancers. And that's what Kaiching Lee was 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:23.400 thinking about that day on the beach. How to make 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:25.719 a better, safer plywood glue. 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:28.040 And if muscles can stick themselves to rocks, maybe they 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:30.800 could stick wood together too. Yeah, so muscles. 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:34.440 Natural adhesive has two big advantages over traditional plywood glues. 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:37.960 First of all, it's non toxic, and secondly, it's waterproof. 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:40.960 So if you've ever gotten plywood furniture wet. You know 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:43.159 what a pain it can be because if the water 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:46.320 isn't dried quickly, the wood layers can start peeling. This 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.320 is a known problem with industrial adhesives, like many of 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:51.640 them lose their stickiness in the presence of water, but 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:53.599 not muscle glue. 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:56.120 Right, but how do you get glue out of a muscle? 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:58.960 Yeah, it's a good question. So Lee realized right away 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:02.400 that would be difficult and expensive, not to mention unpleasant 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:05.000 for the muscles. But he headed to his lab to 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:07.159 see if he could cook up a synthetic version of 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.400 the muscle glue, and one day, while he was eating 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:14.880 his lunch, he had another light bulb moment. He realized, soybeans. 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:17.560 I love how this daily life was just handing him 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:19.200 the scientific answers that he needed. 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:22.120 I know, it's just inspiration is everywhere anyway. People have 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:26.080 been making adhesis from soy for decades. The problem is 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:30.320 soy based glues tend to be weak and they're not waterproof. 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:34.080 But Lee knew that soybean, flower and muscle glue were 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:37.240 made from similar makeup of proteins and amino acids, and 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:40.159 he wondered, what if I altered the chemical profile of 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:42.960 soybean glue to make it more like the kind made 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:45.400 by muscles. So, with the help of a grant from 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:49.480 the USDA, Lee started tinkering with soy's chemical makeup and 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:52.720 by modifying the amino acids and the bean, he successfully 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:56.279 created an adhesive that was just his waterproof and just 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:58.800 as strong as the glue made by muscles. In fact, 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:02.120 the soybean based glue was twice as sticky as hot glue, 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:05.159 three times stronger than Elmer's glue, and had about the 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:07.839 same adhesive power as contact cement. 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:11.440 And has this revolutionized the plywood industry or what? Yeah? 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:14.960 So it's definitely changed things. Like Lee presented his discovery 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:18.640 to Columbia Forest Products. They're a major plywood manufacturer, and 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:22.240 they quickly signed on. So fast forward to today. The 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:25.880 company has converted all of its factories from formaldehyde glues 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:29.040 to soy and pollition rates that some of these plants 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:32.680 have dropped by as much as ninety percent. Wow, isn't 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:35.240 that insane? And other companies have joined them too, So 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:38.680 today soy based plywood is an option at most hardware 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:42.159 and home improvement stores. Other big companies like Ikea and 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.880 General motors now use soy for some of their plywood 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:49.640 products because it's safer, stronger, and better for the planet. Anyway, 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:53.559 in honor of Lee's incredible discovery that changed home DIY forever, 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:56.359 we're running a contest on Instagram today. We're giving away 0:06:56.720 --> 0:07:00.520 a home Depot gift certificate, and our want to make 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:02.960 it very very clear that this is no way sponsored 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:05.520 by Home Depot, But head over to Instagram at part 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:08.039 time Genius to get all the details in enter. 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:11.760 All right, So I'd like to dedicate this next one 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:14.400 to all the violinists who have dreamed of owning a 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:18.720 Stratavius violin but can't stomach the instruments two million dollar 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:20.840 price tag. They're just not that serious about it, Magnant. 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:23.560 They don't want to spend the two million So here 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:24.640 we Yeah. 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:27.880 I would love to know how many professional violinists listen 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:30.880 to the show, But two million dollars is obviously a 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:33.160 steep price tag for a three hundred year old violin 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:36.040 that you're probably too scared to play anyway. 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:40.320 Indeed, but thanks to research from Swiss arborist Franz Schwartz, 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:43.600 there's now a cheaper alternative. And while the new instruments 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:46.240 don't carry the distinction of having been crafted by Italy's 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:49.880 most revered violin maker, they do boast a tone quality 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:52.840 that many experts consider to be just as good and 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.920 in some cases may be better. A claim that might 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:59.120 seem stunning enough, but the real shock is who's responsible 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:01.560 for the superior sound? Are you ready for this? 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:07.520 It's fungus, like Geseppe fungus, the famous Italian violin maker. Nope, nope, 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:11.480 actual fungus that infested the wood used to make the instruments. 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:14.320 It is totally bizarre because in most cases, a fungal 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:17.240 attack destroys wood cell walls and it results in this 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:20.239 kind of loose soft wood that doesn't sound very pleasant 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:23.200 if it's made into an instrument. But as Schwartz discovered 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:26.160 in the late two thousands, there are rare cases where 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.280 fungal infections have a milder effect on the wood's density 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.400 and actually make it sound better. So what happens is 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:35.040 they thin out the wood cells structure just enough to 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:38.800 improve its acoustic properties. And so how did he figure 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:41.920 this out? Exactly like do arboris just go around knocking 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:44.160 on trees to see what sounds they make. 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:46.280 I'm sure that's not how they describe it, but it 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:49.040 is kind of like that. Scientists really do bounce sound 0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:52.439 waves off of trees to gauge their health. The funkier 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:55.760 the echo, the more widespread the wood rot and so 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:58.880 Franz Schwartz was using this method himself when he hatched 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:02.400 the idea for his bungle violin. He wondered how gentler 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:05.400 kinds of fungus might affect the sound of a wooden instrument, 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:09.240 so he partnered with Swiss violin maker Michael Ronheimer to 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:12.720 find out. Now, they selected two different species of wood 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:15.160 eating fungi for the job, and while I won't bother 0:09:15.240 --> 0:09:18.079 to pronounce their scientific names, I can tell you their 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:22.800 nicknames their rusty crust and dead mule's fingers. So those 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:23.559 are both pretty good. 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:25.920 I'm not sure which is grosser, but I think I'd 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:27.000 go with rusty crust. 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:30.679 That is the right answer. But anyway, the top plate 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:34.199 of the violin, which was made of spruce, was inoculated 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:37.600 with rusty crust, and on the bottom, the sycamore plate 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:41.239 was treated with dead mule's fingers. Both plates were submerged 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:44.080 in a box of water to stimulate the fungui's growth, 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:47.080 and a few months later, after killing off the spores, 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:50.440 Ronheimer put the two halves together to create the world's 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:54.520 first bio violin. So Schwartz was blown away by the 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:58.400 instrument's sound, which he described as warmer and rounder than 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:01.320 that of a conventional violin, and he was so pleased 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:03.720 with it that he decided to stage a blind sound 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:07.280 test at an annual forestry conference in Germany. So on 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:10.600 September first, two thousand and nine, a jury of acoustics 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:15.040 experts and conference attendees. They listened carefully as British violinist 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:18.960 Matthew Trussler played five different instruments from behind the curtain. 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:22.200 Four of the violins were made by Ronheimer, two of 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:25.000 them with fungus treated wood and the other two with 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:28.840 untreated wood from the same trees. But the fifth instrument 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:33.000 came from Trustler's own collection, a violin made by Antonio 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.840 Strativeris himself way back in seventeen eleven. 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:40.720 So I guess the goal was to identify which one 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:43.040 was the true strad in the mix. 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:45.800 That's exactly right. So attendees were asked to rank the 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:48.600 sound of each instrument they heard and to guess which 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:51.240 one of them was over three hundred years old. Schwartz 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:53.720 later admitted that as good as they sounded, he never 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.240 expected one of the fungal violins to be confused for 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:59.360 a multi million dollar instrument, But in the end, that 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:02.200 is exactly what happened. Out of more than one hundred 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:05.880 and eighty attendees, one hundred and thirteen of them thought 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:08.760 that one of Ronheimer's violins, which had been covered with 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:12.160 fungi for nine months, was produced by Stratu Areas. 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:13.720 So it wasn't It wasn't even close. 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.400 No, I mean, the real strat came in a distant second, 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:19.720 but the other fungus violin claiming third place, and the 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:22.840 two untreated instruments pulling up the rear, so like it 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:24.760 really does show the difference that it made. 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:27.960 I mean, I get that like a fungus could change 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.560 the wood and the sound of a violin, but like, 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:33.640 why are they comparable to Stratavarius. 0:11:34.040 --> 0:11:36.280 It's a good question, and honestly, no one can really 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:38.440 say for sure why is violin sound as good as 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:40.400 they do. The best guess is that it's due to 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:43.559 the weather in Italy during his lifetime. So Strata Areas 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:46.120 happened to live through what people knew as Central Europe's 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:49.320 Little Ice Age. This happened in the seventeenth century, and 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:52.600 it brought long winters and cool summers to the region. 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:55.960 So the unusually chilly temperatures would have slowed the cell 0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:58.800 growth of the local trees there, causing their wood to 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:02.840 develop more slowly and uniformly, which was the perfect recipe 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:06.400 for producing wood with stellar acoustics. So, according to Schwartz, 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:09.000 the fungi treatment he used was able to recreate that 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:10.240 same ideal structure. 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:13.360 That's really cool, But if a fungus violin produces a 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:16.160 richer sound, why don't they do that for all violins now? 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:19.280 Well, partly because not every violin needs the same tonal 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:22.719 quality as the strativarius, like, it's nice to have different options, 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:25.200 But the main reason is that Schwartz and his colleagues 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:27.840 are still working out the details on how you'd actually 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:30.480 mass produce these Once they do. The plan is to 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:33.400 sell the instruments for about thirty thousand dollars each, which 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:35.920 sounds like a lot, but it's actually about what you'd 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:38.720 pay for other high quality violence and a lot. 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:41.240 Less than two million dollars definitely, you're good at math. 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:45.360 We've got to pause for a quick break, but we'll 0:12:45.400 --> 0:13:04.160 be back with more great science ideas right after. Welcome 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:06.960 back to part time genius listeners, and we are counting 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:11.439 down to number Okay, So I'm not going to beat 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:15.040 around the bush on this one. This research totally blew 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:18.920 my mind. So scientists and Northwestern University have developed a 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:22.720 new treatment for spinal cord injuries that allowed paralyzed mice 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:27.400 to walk again after a single injection. Not only that, 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:30.679 the treatment has loads of other applications, potentially impacting the 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:35.040 way we treat everything from bone loss to neurodegenerative diseases 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:37.840 like Alzheimer's. I can't be I've never heard of this. 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:40.160 I mean, it sounds like a real life cure. All yeah, 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:42.640 I mean it's still early days from the research perspective. 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.600 The team's big breakthrough was only back in twenty twenty one, 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:49.320 but so far the data is really incredible and promising. 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:51.800 So just to give a little background on why this 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:54.480 is such a big deal, they're currently about three hundred 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:57.280 thousand people living with a spinal cord injury in the 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:00.520 US alone, and in the most severe case is less 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:03.440 than three percent of them will ever recover any basic 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:06.280 physical functions. The reason for that is that the neurons 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:10.000 in their spinal cords have been completely severed, and thus 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:12.520 far as scientists haven't been able to find therapeutics that 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:17.160 can successfully trigger spinal cord regeneration. But that changed with 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:20.920 the study from Northwestern University. So researchers were able to 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:24.560 reverse paralysis in mice by injecting them with something they 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:26.560 called dancing molecules. 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:29.200 I've actually never heard of that either, so I'm curious. 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:32.160 So are the molecules themselves dancing or is it that 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:35.360 they can restore the mouse's ability to dance? What are 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:36.080 we referring to? 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:38.520 Yeah, so no word on whether the mice can dance 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:41.320 before or after the treatment, but the molecules that were 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:45.840 injected absolutely can dance. So after being injected as a liquid, 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:50.600 the molecules coalesced to form tiny synthetic nanofibers that surround 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:54.320 the spinal cord. And the fibers were composed of tens 0:14:54.320 --> 0:14:57.040 of hundreds of thousands of molecules, and the researchers found 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:59.960 that by changing their chemical structure, they could control them 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.920 molecules collective motion. This allowed them to fine tune the 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:06.520 synthetic molecules movements, speeding them up to match the motion 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:10.200 of biological molecules within the spinal cord. It turned out 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:13.360 that the most hyperactive molecules, the ones that were dancing 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:17.000 the most, were able to connect more effectively with receptors 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:18.600 in neurons and other cells. 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:21.880 So once the molecules made that connection, they were able 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:25.760 to like tell the cells to repair the damage neurons. 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:29.800 Yeah, So the dancing molecules triggered two bioactive signals. The 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:33.360 first prompted the tails of the neurons to regenerate and 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:36.440 that effectively restored communication between the body and the brain. 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:40.680 And the second signal promoted the regrowth of lost blood 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:43.320 cells that feed the neurons and other cells related to 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:46.360 tissue repair. And the result of this intervention was that 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:50.400 after just four weeks, these paralyzed mice could regain the 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:51.680 ability to walk. 0:15:51.520 --> 0:15:53.880 Which is just stunning. Yeah, and it's also kind of 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:55.760 a testament to the power of dance if you think 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:57.640 about it, because it sounds like the approach didn't work 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:00.920 so well when they tried it with more slow, guish molecules. 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:04.080 Yeah, that souped up molecular motion really was the key 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:06.880 factor in all of this. The cells and receptors within 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:09.800 the body are constantly moving, so once the team was 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.640 able to match that speed or vibration, the fast moving 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:16.840 molecules encountered the receptors much more often, and that allowed 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:19.560 them to send their signals again and again. The breakthrough 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:23.720 therapy actually has obvious implications for improving the spinal injuries 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:27.120 of both humans and animals, but there's reasons to hope 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:30.400 that the underlying discovery could also be used in other treatments, 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:32.920 as we allude to before. According to the studies, lead 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:36.960 researchers Samuel Stupp quote, the central nervous system tissues we 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:40.680 have successfully regenerated in the injured spinal cord are similar 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:44.520 to those in the brain affected by stroke and neurodegenerative 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:49.720 diseases such as als, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Beyond that, our 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:53.280 fundamental discovery about controlling the motion of molecular assemblies to 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:58.640 enhance cells signaling could be applied universally across biomedical targets. 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:01.520 Okay, so they're thinking that could fine tune molecules to 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:04.320 match the motion of other damage cells, not just the 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:06.919 ones in the spinal cord exactly. And the most amazing 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.560 part is they've already done it. So just last year, 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:13.000 the team from Northwestern applied their strategy to damaged human 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:16.720 cartilage cells and they found some success. Now, normally there's 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:19.080 no way for humans to regenerate the tissues in our 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:22.320 joints once we reach adulthood. So if you have a 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:25.600 disease in which cartilage breaks down over time, you eventually 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:27.879 get to a point where the bone is grinding against 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:31.040 the bone with no cushion between them. And currently the 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:34.560 only treatment for this is joint replacement surgery, which is 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:38.879 extremely invasive and also very expensive. But once again, the 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:42.040 team here has found a much better solution. So using 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:46.040 their injectable therapy, they were able to spur cartilage regeneration 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:49.399 in damage cells within just a matter of days. And 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:52.440 once again, it was the molecules dancing that triggered the process. 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:55.680 So building on that second success, the team's next goal 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:59.520 is to test the therapy's effectiveness at regenerating bone and 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:03.640 from there, the sky's limit because, as Stupp explained, quote, 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:06.399 now we have observed the effects in two cell types 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:09.879 that are completely disconnected from one another. Cartilage cells in 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:12.400 our joints and neurons in our brain and spinal cord. 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.120 This makes me more confident that we might have discovered 0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:18.320 a universal phenomena and it could be applied to many 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:21.199 other tissues. That really is amazing. So what's the status 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:22.320 of the spinal cord repair? 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:22.439 Like? 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:24.560 Have they been able to test this in humans yet? 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:28.080 Fortunately not. The team's been petitioning the FDA for approval 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:30.679 to start clinical trials, but so far it's yet to 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:31.240 be granted. 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:33.600 Well, I hope it does come through sooner rather than later, 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:36.040 and it sounds like something that could seriously change people's 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:37.960 lives and of course the lives of mice as well. 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:39.960 Yeah, we'll have them all dancing again soon. 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:44.639 Why. Well, our next breakthrough is a reminder that medical 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:48.280 advances can truly come from anywhere, even from inside the 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:51.399 mouth of a venomous lizard. Now we know this for 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:53.760 a fact thanks to the work of doctor John Aang. 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:57.080 He's an endocrinologist and VA researcher who found a way 0:18:57.080 --> 0:19:00.479 to stimulate the insulin producing cells and the pain creas 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:04.359 using a hormone found in wait for it, the saliva 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:05.560 of a HeLa monster. 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:08.840 I feel like there's no way to make that not 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:09.720 sound crazy. 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:12.760 Yeah, Well, just to be clear, helo monsters are not, 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:16.439 in fact spased monsters or aliens. They're big, desert dwelling 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:19.800 lizards native to the southwestern United States. They can grow 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:22.200 to be about twenty inches in length and are easy 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:25.359 to recognize thanks to their splotchy orange and black coloring. No, 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:27.320 it's rare to see one in person, though, since they 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:30.760 spend about ninety percent of their lives underground and only 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:32.520 come to the surface when it's time to eat. 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:35.280 I mean, if you dc one, you should probably clear away, right, 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:36.440 because they're pretty venomous. 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:38.520 Well, you really don't want to mess with one of 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:40.960 these guys. They have a pretty powerful bite, and because 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:43.520 their main defense is to pump you full of venom, 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:46.000 they tend to hang on to whatever they chomp on 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:50.480 for as long as possible. And the venom glends are 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:53.479 inside their mouths obviously, right, Yeah, and they're lower jaws 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:56.240 I think so. The longer a helo monster clamps down, 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.159 the more venom is injected through their teeth and into 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:02.400 the bite wound. It was unfortunate enough to have been bitten, say, 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:05.879 the venom stings like molten lava. So these people have 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:09.040 not only been bitten, but they also have experienced molten lava. 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:14.119 Apparently they are unlucky people rough, But for people with 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:17.800 type two diabetes, it actually can be a lifesaver. 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:21.400 Which is wild. So how did doctor Ng even think 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:24.440 to try this? Like, like, why was messing around with 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:27.600 HeLa monster spit? Like h the first thing you was 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:28.240 thinking about? 0:20:28.440 --> 0:20:30.639 I actually wondered that too. But keep in mind that 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:34.439 medications derived from animal venom aren't that unusual. Sure, the 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:37.680 venom of snakes, scorpions, spiders, even the world's only other 0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:41.520 venomous lizard, the kmodo dragon. They've all contributed to different 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:44.520 treatments over the years, and some of the existing research 0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:47.199 is what convinced doctor Ng that HeLa monsters might be 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:50.200 helpful for treating diabetes. So let's go back to the 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.040 nineteen eighties when doctor Ng was practicing as a physician 0:20:53.240 --> 0:20:55.600 and a researcher at the VA Hospital in the Bronx. 0:20:56.040 --> 0:20:59.520 He was working to discover new animal hormones with medical potential, 0:20:59.720 --> 0:21:02.760