Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Scientists brought back old proteins from animals that lived 160 million years ago. Some of them fight germs very well.
The protein is called lactoferrin. It is in milk, tears and saliva. Our bodies use it to stay safe from germs.
The scientists studied small pieces of the protein. These pieces are called peptides. They made the old peptides in a lab and tested them.
Some old peptides worked better than new ones against tough bacteria. This may help doctors find new medicines.
- protein
- A natural substance that does jobs in the body.
- germs
- Tiny living things that can make us sick.
- bacteria
- Very small living things, some of which cause disease.
- medicine
- Something you take to get better.
- peptide
- A small piece of a protein.
- lab
- A room where scientists do tests.
- tears
- The water that comes from your eyes.
- ancient
- Very, very old.
Level 2 — Elementary
Scientists have brought back ancient proteins from mammals that lived as far back as 160 million years ago. Some of them turned out to be surprisingly strong against bacteria that resist drugs.
The team studied lactoferrin, an immune protein found in breast milk, tears, saliva and other body fluids. Lactoferrin appeared near the end of the Jurassic period, when the ancestor of all placental mammals first lived.
Using computer methods, the researchers worked out the most likely form of the peptides carried by these ancestors. Peptides are short pieces of proteins. The team then built them in the lab and tested them against bacteria.
Some of the rebuilt peptides worked better against drug resistant bacteria than versions found in modern animals. The difference came down to a single small change in the chain of amino acids. The study was published in PLOS Biology.
- immune
- Related to the body's defense against disease.
- ancestor
- An early member of a family line.
- Jurassic
- A time when many dinosaurs lived.
- drug resistant
- Not killed by common medicines.
- amino acids
- The small building blocks of proteins.
- reconstruct
- To build something again from evidence.
- modern
- Of the present time.
- potent
- Very strong in effect.
Level 3 — Intermediate
Researchers have resurrected antimicrobial proteins from mammals that lived up to 160 million years ago, and some of the revived molecules proved unexpectedly powerful against drug resistant bacteria. The work, published in PLOS Biology, offers a fresh source of ideas at a time when antibiotic resistance is a mounting global health threat.
The team focused on lactoferrin, an immune protein present in almost every body fluid except blood, including breast milk, tears, saliva and mucus. It emerged near the end of the Jurassic, when the common ancestor of placental mammals appeared. Using ancestral sequence reconstruction and statistical analysis, the scientists estimated the most probable sequences of short fragments called peptides at several points in mammalian history.
They then synthesized those peptides and tested them against bacteria. Some of the ancient versions outperformed those of certain living species against resistant strains. The gap in potency traced back to a single mutation that altered the peptide's structure.
The approach, sometimes called molecular de-extinction, does not aim to recreate animals. Instead, it treats evolutionary history as a library of designs that natural selection has already tested, some of which may have been lost along the way.
- resurrect
- To bring back something that was gone.
- antimicrobial
- Able to kill or stop microbes.
- mounting
- Growing steadily in size or seriousness.
- sequence
- The order of the parts in a chain, such as amino acids.
- synthesize
- To make something artificially in a lab.
- potency
- The strength of a medicine.
- mutation
- A change in genetic material.
- natural selection
- The process by which useful traits survive over generations.
Level 4 — Advanced
Scientists have resurrected antimicrobial proteins from mammalian ancestors that lived as long as 160 million years ago, and several of the revived molecules proved more formidable against drug resistant bacteria than counterparts found in certain living species. Published in PLOS Biology, the work arrives as antibiotic resistance tightens its grip on hospitals worldwide.
The researchers concentrated on lactoferrin, an immune protein found in nearly every body fluid apart from blood, from breast milk and tears to saliva and intestinal mucus. Lactoferrin arose near the close of the Jurassic, alongside the ancestor of all placental mammals. Through ancestral sequence reconstruction and statistical inference, the team estimated the likeliest sequences of its short fragments, the peptides, at successive nodes of the mammalian family tree.
Once synthesized in the laboratory, the ancient peptides were pitted against resistant strains, and some outperformed those of modern species. The disparity in potency hinged on a single mutation that altered the peptide's structure, a reminder that a solitary substitution can shift a molecule from adequate to exceptional.
Sometimes dubbed molecular de-extinction, the strategy has nothing to do with resurrecting animals. It treats deep evolutionary time as an archive of chemical designs that selection has already field tested, some of which were discarded by lineages for reasons that may no longer apply to a world in need of new antibiotics.
- formidable
- Causing respect or fear because of strength.
- ancestral
- Coming from earlier generations.
- inference
- A conclusion based on evidence and reasoning.
- pitted against
- Set in competition with.
- disparity
- A noticeable difference.
- hinge on
- To depend completely on.
- dubbed
- Given a name or nickname.
- archive
- A collection of records kept for future use.
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