As more and more bacterium become tolerant to the dwindling arsenal of drug we have , there is the very serious threat that we may soon run out of good antibiotic drug . This has precede to increase calls to widen our lookup for novel antibiotics , a pursuit that has led some researcher into the pocket of the Tasmanian devil . It turns outthat the Devil ' Milk River could help kill antibiotic - insubordinate bacterium .
While in human milk there is only one type of antimicrobic peptide , call cathelicidins , inTasmanian devil milkthere are least six that the researcher were able to identify . These are thought to be produced not just in the Milk River of the devil , but also in the lining of their pouch . To test the efficacy of these peptides , the researchers recreated these molecules in the laboratory and then test them against 25 different types of bacteria , including the methicillin - resistantStaphylococcus aureus , also know as MRSA .
Published inScientific Reports , the squad of scientists from the University of Sydney found that the cathelicidins from the hellion ' milk were effective against a number of type of bacterium , including MRSA , as well as against some case of fungi that can lead to contagion . It is hoped that more research into these peptides could head to the development of new antibiotic drugs .
The research worker thinkthat the phylogeny of the devils ’ antibiotic milk is related to their marsupial modus vivendi . Newborn pups are typically underdeveloped and Australian crawl into their mother ’s pouch , where they are then run Milk River and proceed growing for around four months until they can support themselves . This , however , means that the newborns are living in a bacteria - filled environment , despite the fact that their immune system is not yet fully functioning . To make up for this , it is thought that the mothers pass on increased security through their milk in the var. of the cathelicidins .
But the discovery of these peptides might not only benefit the development of new drugs . The researchers are hoping that they might also have anti - cancer properties , which would be of vast welfare to the dickens themselves . presently , the Tasmanian devil population is being scourge bya contagious cancerthat has swept through the universe , make their numbers to crash . Perhaps these new molecules may also confabulate some sort of resistance and avail save the species .
