Strange experiments

In 2007, the scientific community made many strange experiments that anyone who heard would have to raise their eyebrows: "How to do that?". Why do scientists study kangaroo's fart gas? What is the gene mapping of the dandruff fungus?

The Independent Daily The Independent reviewed those experiments to find the answer: all to serve people, to make people's lives better.

What's good about kangaroo's fart?

A group of scientists in Queensland (Australia) spent four years studying the . gas of kangaroo. The result (completely serious) just announced last month, confirmed: This kangaroo releases environmentally friendly fart gas! In the kangaroo stomach there is a bacterium that makes their fart gas not contain methane, which is more harmful than CO ₂ .

Currently, farm cattle is the " culprit " of 14% of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia, ranking second after power plants. The research group led by Dr. Athol Klieve believes that decrypting this secret can help "improve" the emissions of other animals, making them more climate-friendly. From this study, people will produce drugs that supplement the bacteria of kangaroo and then mix it with animal feed. However, it must wait at least three years before the drug is completed and marketed.

Why should the roundworm take antidepressants?

A group of scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle (USA) has given roundworms to take antidepressants. Certainly not for treatment, because soft-bodied species have a length of 1mm and life span of only three weeks does not have anything to worry about!

In fact, scientist Michael Petrascheck and colleagues wanted to find ways to extend their life. They tried to give a group of roundworms to drink 80,000 random drug mixes to see if they could make them live longer. Finally, an antidepressant called Mianserin helped the nematode live for nearly a week! However, scientists still cannot explain why. They only know this drug deceives the worm, making it think that it is hungry."This is not a method to make people immortal, it only helps us better understand age-related diseases," explains Michael Petrascheck of his research.

What to do for mapping fungal genes that cause dandruff?

"The only way to control dandruff is to make dandruff shampoo. But this is often ineffective because sometimes the fungi that reside on the scalp become immune to shampoo," explains Dr. Thomas Dawson. . To know how to treat Malassezia globosa, the fungus causes the scalp agony of more than half of the world's population, first of all to know how it works. And to understand an organism, the best way is to decode its DNA.

Dr. Thomas Dawson, working at the improvement center of P&G Beauty (of P&G Consumer Group in the US) and his colleagues have raised 10 liters of mushrooms, enough to cause 10 million people to dandruff, and decode the gene them. The work, published in the November 1 issue of the American Academy of Sciences, shows that M. globosa can produce 50 distinct enzymes that cause dandruff. Hopefully the genetic map of this mushroom will help create more effective anti-dandruff shampoo.

What to do with anti-stick on frogs?

Study frog skin to protect people
(Photo: Xenopus.com)

In August last year, scientists at the University of Michigan (USA) published details of the experiment to create non-stick frog skin cells! In fact, since the 1980s, scientists have been particularly interested in frogs because their skin produces antimicrobial proteins (AMP). This is a strong "stronghold" of the immune system, which helps fight viruses, bacteria and bacteria when they try to invade the body, so frogs can fight infections very effectively.

Scientists have tried to exploit this benefit by placing AMP on skin creams and mixtures commonly used to combat human infections. However, enzymes in human skin attach to AMP, losing the effect of this protein.

To prevent this adhesion, scientists thought of Teflon, a non-stick substance (often used for non-stick pans). The team led by chemist Neil Marsh discovered when combining Teflon with AMP, they increased the durability of AMP, preventing them from reacting to other proteins on the human body. Scientists extracted AMP from African dwarf frogs to experiment and create a non-stick AMP. They hope that this type of AMP will help kill resistant bacteria, forming an anti-ocular cream or skin ulcer cream for diabetics .

THANH TRUC