WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: What Makes Durian Fruit Smell So Bad?

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

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff. I'm Lauren vogel Baum, and this this is

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<v Speaker 1>a classic brain Stuff episode. This one is about Daurian,

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<v Speaker 1>a fruit prized for its sweet, creamy taste and sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>villainized for its stinky smell. But what causes that smell

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<v Speaker 1>and could that or something else in its jeans help

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<v Speaker 1>find a cure to something like cancer? Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum. Here in Southeast Asia, the Durian is called

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<v Speaker 1>the king of fruits, but not everybody in the world

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<v Speaker 1>bows down to this bulbous, spiny, custardy delicacy. That's usually

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<v Speaker 1>because of the odor. The smell of a ripe daurian

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<v Speaker 1>has been compared to sweaty socks, road kill, custard, rotten eggs, garlic, cheese,

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<v Speaker 1>a gas leak, and a sewer full of rotting pineapples.

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<v Speaker 1>And it's strong enough that in places where it grows,

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<v Speaker 1>many businesses and public areas have to graphics signs up

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<v Speaker 1>no Durian, like no smoking, but with a spiny ball

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<v Speaker 1>in the place of the cigarette. But still the fruit

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<v Speaker 1>has its super fans, and now some of those super

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<v Speaker 1>fans from the National Cancer Center Singapore and Duke and

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<v Speaker 1>US Medical School, along with some financial donors who love

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<v Speaker 1>Durians enough too privately fund to study about them, have

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<v Speaker 1>completely mapped the Dairyan genome to find out, among other things,

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<v Speaker 1>why the putrid stench durians. In the study published in

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<v Speaker 1>the journal Nature Genetics, the researchers sequenced the genome of

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<v Speaker 1>a popular and prized Durian variety called Mussang King and

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<v Speaker 1>found its genome is made up of around forty six

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<v Speaker 1>thousand genes, just about double the number of genes that

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<v Speaker 1>composed the human genome. They found the plant is closely

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<v Speaker 1>related to both cotton and cacao. That's right, the plant

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<v Speaker 1>that gives us chocolate. But the researchers were really interested

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<v Speaker 1>in the source of the smell, so in snooping around

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<v Speaker 1>the genome for odor producing compounds, they found a class

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<v Speaker 1>of genes called mg l S that s methionin gamma

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<v Speaker 1>liaises in the leaves, roots, and fruits of Daurian plants.

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<v Speaker 1>The researchers found that these genes regulate the synthesis of

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<v Speaker 1>odor producing volatile sulfur compounds or vs cs, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>like rotten egg smell. They also discovered that in the

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<v Speaker 1>ripe fruit, the expression of one of these vcs expressing

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<v Speaker 1>genes is about two thousand times stronger than in other

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<v Speaker 1>parts of the plant in the wild. This aspect may

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<v Speaker 1>be responsible for attracting seed dispersing animals like elephants and

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<v Speaker 1>bats to the Daurian fruit. This isn't the first research

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<v Speaker 1>conducted on the Durian's unique scent. In a team of

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<v Speaker 1>German researchers identified dozens of chemical compounds that combine to

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<v Speaker 1>create the smell, but that research did not investigate the

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<v Speaker 1>genes behind those compounds. The current research team was hoping

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<v Speaker 1>to make an important medical discovery with the sequencing of

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<v Speaker 1>the mussang king genome. After all, anticancer drugs like taxol

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<v Speaker 1>derived from the bark of the Pacific u save lives

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<v Speaker 1>every day, and as biodiversity deep creases all over the world,

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<v Speaker 1>we need to figure out what we have while it's

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<v Speaker 1>still around. But as Durian enthusiasts, these scientists also just

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to investigate how this quirky and controversial plant might

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<v Speaker 1>be conserved. Besides Mussang King, there are around thirty other

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<v Speaker 1>species of Durian, both edible and inedible. In the Southeast

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<v Speaker 1>Asian forests, and some of them are endangered. In a

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<v Speaker 1>press release, co lead author Dr t Ben Tian, Deputy

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<v Speaker 1>Director of the National Cancer Center Singapore, wrote, many of

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<v Speaker 1>these other Daian species are in this part of the world,

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<v Speaker 1>and sadly some are endangered due to the increasing loss

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<v Speaker 1>of biodiversity. DNA sequencing is thus an important tool to

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<v Speaker 1>protect the precious information contained in these fascinating and important plants.

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<v Speaker 1>To Day's episode is based on the article cancer Scientists

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<v Speaker 1>sniff out the genes behind Daurian's famous stink on how

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<v Speaker 1>Stuffworks dot Com, written by Jesslin Shields. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production of I Heart Radio in partnership with how Stuffworks

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Playing. For

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