Antibiotic beer, as drunk by the ancient Nubians

// September 8th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Drugs, Recent Research

Image by Peter Trimming

Today’s schooner of science is literally science in a schooner. Plus it comes with a new career path – bioarcheologist, expert in ancient diets.

George Armelagos is the bioarcheologist in question, and he’d been studying the ancient Nubians who lived just south of ancient Egypt in present-day Sudan.

George was looking at some bones and found evidence that they had been exposed to tetracycline, an antibiotic. Tetracycline is absorbed into bone, and fluoresces green. It’s sometimes used to measure bone growth – take tetracycline at day 0, again at day 12, and at day 21 take a biopsy. The distance between the two green lines will show how far the bone grew in 12 days.

Anyhoo, tetracycline in bones from 350-550 AD is weird, seeing as we first invented antibiotics with the discovery of penicillin in 1928. Now we find out the ancient Nubians beat us to it, and as with all great ideas they came up with it over a beer.

The grain they used to ferment the beer contained streptomyces bacteria, which produces tetracycline as a kind of germ warfare. Like penicillin comes from a fungus, tetracycline is made by a bacteria. It’s a bad-ass antibacterial that can treat disease like chlamydia, gonorrhea, and pneumonia which are caused by bacteria. It can even kill Yersinia pestis cause of the black plague.

Were the ancient Nubians drinking it by accidental contamination, intentional medication, or did streptomyces bacteria just grew on the corpses?

To find out they needed (da dada dum!) a CHEMIST! This particular hero was Mark Nelson, who dissolved the bones in some hardcore hydrogen fluoride – “the most dangerous acid on the planet,” according to Mark. Woah. After showing the bones who was boss, Mark mass spec’d the shizz out of them and discovered a metric buttload of tetracycline, confirming that it was ingested and in high quantities.

The scientist duo concluded that this was a brew with a purpose – an antibiotic alcoholic. Even the bones from a four year old child contained a lot of tetracycline, perhaps he was given the antibacterial to cure a disease.

My question is, why are WE not taking our antibiotics in beer? That would be SO much better!

Nelson ML, Dinardo A, Hochberg J, & Armelagos GJ (2010). Brief communication: Mass spectroscopic characterization of tetracycline in the skeletal remains of an ancient population from Sudanese Nubia 350-550 CE. American journal of physical anthropology, 143 (1), 151-4 PMID: 20564518

Ivy vs UV, could plant nanoparticles be the new sunscreen?

// July 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // How Things Work, Recent Research

Image by Tamara Horová

Research published in June shows that nanoparticles from the English Ivy might make superior sunscreen to current brands, offering high broad spectrum protection and lasting for longer than current creams.

The trend towards organics has influenced industries like food, coffee and shampoo as well as pretty much everything you can conceivably imagine. Over the past few years, some people have become worried about sunscreen containing nanosized titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. While these absorb light in the UV spectrum and protect the skin, perhaps the tiny particles could be absorbed through the skin and unleash toxic hell on the body! These could be unfounded fears, and damage from the sun is far more likely than damage from the sunscreen.

Personally, I’m all for synthetic chemicals. I think dear old Mother N has some freaky chemical concoctions of her own, many of which did not evolve to help humans but people inject it into their face anyway. Natural does not mean safe in my book.

All the same, ivy nanoparticles make a strong case. They absorbed or scattered light in the UV spectrum over five times better than titanium dioxide. The absorption dropped quickly when reaching the visible spectrum, so like current sunscreens it would look near invisible on your face.

Just like ivy can stick to brick walls and trees, the ivy nanoparticles have adhesive qualities. They could lead to sunscreens which last longer and are more water resistant. Hey, maybe that’s why Adam and Eve seem to always have ivy covering their-

Liked reading? There’s still time to vote for me in the Big Blog Theory, have a say in choosing Australia’s best science blog.

Xia, L., Lenaghan, S., Zhang, M., Zhang, Z., & Li, Q. (2010). Naturally occurring nanoparticles from English ivy: an alternative to metal-based nanoparticles for UV protection Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 8 (1) DOI: 10.1186/1477-3155-8-12

World’s sweetest antibiotic? The five ways honey kills bacteria.

// July 13th, 2010 // 5 Comments » // Drugs, How Things Work, Recent Research, Science at Home

You’re at the doctors with a suspected infection, but instead of offering penicillin or erythromycin, they prescribe honey. Would you switch toast toppings? Take a honey pill? How about letting the doctor smear medical grade honey over the infected area?

People have been using honey (not mad honey) as medicine since ancient times, but until now we have never fully understood how it works. Research lead by Dr. Paulus Kwakman from the University of Amsterdam and his team have finally identified the key elements which give honey its antibacterial activity.

Bacteria are becoming resistant to drugs faster than we’re developing them. Honey might help because it works when other drugs don’t. Studies show it has good activity in vitro against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. An older study reports successful treatment of a chronic wound infections not responding to normal medicine.

So how does it work? It’s a combination of five factors.

1. Hydrogen peroxide, a kind of bleach. The honey enzyme called glucose oxidase makes hydrogen peroxide when honey is diluted with water. We clean toilets with bleach, and it’s pretty good at killing bacteria.

2. Sugar. Honey has so much sugar there’s hardly any water for bacteria to grow in.

3. Methylglyoxal (MGO), an antibacterial compound found in New Zealand Manuka honey a couple of years ago. It’s also found in medical grade honey which is made in controlled greenhouses, albeit in smaller amounts.

4. Bee defensin 1, a protein found in royal jelly (special food for queen bee larva.) This report is the first time bee defensin 1 has been identified in honey, and it works as an antibiotic.

5. Acid. Diluted honey has a pH of around 3.5, the acidic environment slows down bacterial growth.

These five things work together to provide a broad spectrum activity against bacteria. For example, S. aureus is vulnerable hydrogen peroxide, while B. subtillis is challenged only if MGO and bee defensin 1 are working simultaneously. Honey has the right mix for maximum destruction.

So that’s how bees keep their honey fresh and unspoiled by bacterial growth. Perhaps with this information we’ll create enhanced honey to guard against infection, improving on nature like we did with penicillin. Until then, I know what I’m having on my toast.

A Schooner of Science could be named Australia’s best science blog. If you enjoyed reading, please vote for me.

Kwakman, P., te Velde, A., de Boer, L., Speijer, D., Vandenbroucke-Grauls, C., & Zaat, S. (2010). How honey kills bacteria The FASEB Journal, 24 (7), 2576-2582 DOI: 10.1096/fj.09-150789

Solar powered plane flies through the night

// July 12th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Recent Research

Up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane… well yes it’s a plane. A solar powered plane.

Last week Solar Impulse flew their prototype plane through the night for the first time. The trip lasted over 26 hours, gathering and storing energy during the day. With 12% efficiency and rationing energy to last the night, the plane has eight horse power to run on. That’s about the same as the Wright brothers had in 1903.

It’s the first night flight ever by a solar powered plane, and in 2013 they plan to go round the world in five stages lasting several days at a time. Their goal is a non-stop round the world flight. Before they can do it, they need to improve battery storage to support the weight of two pilots. At the moment it’s a one man show, and round the world in one go would involve some serious sleep deprivation.

Frilled dinosaur Mojoceratops is groovy baby, yeah

// July 11th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Recent Research, Sex and Reproduction

Mojo: The libido. The life force. The essence. The right stuff. What the French call a certain… I don’t know what.

Mojoceratops was discovered when Nicholas Longrich from Yale University was looking at existing fossils from American Museum of Natural History in New York. They had been classified as another species, Chasmosaurus, but Nicholas believed they were something else. Dinosaur, thy name is Mojo.

Mojoceratops was about the size of a hippo and roamed the Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces of Canada around 75 million years ago. It nommed on plants only, like its relative the Triceratops. Anyone else having a flashback to the Land Before Time? Ducky was my favourite. That movie was epic. Anyway…

Most striking is the frill. All the Ceratopsids had frills, but Mojo’s was the largest and the most heart shaped. Nicholas thinks it was used for sexual courtship. The right side of the frill is larger than the left side, which indicates it was a display or weapon under intense selection. The same kind of asymmetry is also seen in deer antlers. Sexual selection fail though, the species only lasted for a million years. Did they lose their mojo?

Mojo means a talisman for attracting members of the opposite sex. Of course, Nicholas first came up with the name after having a few drinks. “It was just a joke, but then everyone stopped and looked at each other and said, ‘Wait — that actually sounds cool’ ” he said. Yes, yes it does. I think I have a new favourite dinosaur.

Longrich, Nicholas R. (2010). Mojoceratops perifania, A New Chasmosaurine Ceratopsid from the Late Campanian of Western Canada. Journal of Paleontology, 84 (4), 681-694

Leviathan, the ancient marine predator discovered

// July 6th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Recent Research, The Realm of Bizzare

Deep in a desert in Peru palaeontologists were searching for a skull. Some years ago, teeth thought to belong to a new species of marine animal had been found, but they needed a head to identify it. Hunting in the richest area for ancient sea remains, luck eluded them until the very last day of their travel. Then they found…

Leviathan melvillei. Named after that most fearsome animal the white whale, likened to Leviathan in Herman Melville’s most excellent book Moby Dick. In the old Testament Leviathan was a sea demon, a guardian of the gates of hell. Other cultures thought a dragon or a crocodile, but in modern Hebrew the word means simply whale.

And what a whale is Leviathan.

With 30 cm long teeth it was a dangerous predator. It may have hunted medium-sized baleen whales, who have no teeth and live on plankton. It’s huge teeth would have inflicted deep bites, tearing the baleen whales into pieces. Leviathan lived some 12 million years ago, and looks similar to a modern day sperm whale.

One major difference between the fossil and modern sperm whales is Leviathan had teeth on both jaws. Modern sperm whales only have teeth on the lower jaw, and eat by sucking squid into their mouth. Killer whales are like the funsize version of Leviathan, with teeth on both jaws and violence towards seals. Watch the YouTube documentary to find out more.

They haven’t found the rest of the fossil, so they don’t know how large the whale was, but it was probably around the same size as the sperm whales of today. That’s really big! The largest animal that has ever lived is the blue whale that is still in the ocean now. There are theories that the blue whale is as big as things will ever get.

And so let us take a moment to think of mighty, mad Ahab. That crazy captain who lost his leg to a sperm whale. Wherever you are, Ahab, I be glad you never lived to see this day. The mighty Moby Dick who stole your sanity had but half the dental framework of legendary Leviathan.

Paper published in Nature. Hat tip to Not Exactly Rocket Science.

Update: The name Leviathan was already taken (whoops!) so it has now been renamed Livyatan melvillei, Livyatan being a Hebrew name for large marine monsters.

Preserved in amber, new beetle species discovered in Australia

// June 22nd, 2010 // No Comments » // Recent Research, The Realm of Bizzare

A massive trove of precious amber, fossilised tree sap, was found last September. The pieces were found on a remote stretch of beach in Cape York, far north Queensland.

The amber comes from an ancient rainforest that must have existed between Australia and New Guinea. Up until now there were almost no remains from that area, because they’re underwater, I guess, and some landlubbers don’t enjoy venturing into the depths. Especially in far north Queensland with the box jellyfish and what not.

Best part is, the amber contains insects preserved a la Jurassic Park. They have found a prehistoric spider, ants, and wasps as well as a brand new species of beetle. Some of the amber has been taken to the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, where they have scanned the insects and built large scale models. *Want*

The New South Wales University have a press release with pics of the beetle.

New polymer to help clear oil spill in Gulf of Mexico

// June 12th, 2010 // No Comments » // Recent Research

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been tragic. To help clean up the mess, a team from the University of Pittsburgh have designed a new way to removing oil from water.

It’s made of cotton dipped in a polymer which lets water through but repels oil. Here is a video of it in action.

On a large scale spill such as the Gulf of Mexico, the team envisages making large troughs out of the material and scooping it along the surface of the water. Not only would it clean the water, but the oil collected can recovered and the filter reused.

Hat tip to Carbon-Based Curiosities.

What is the synthetic cell?

// May 22nd, 2010 // 1 Comment » // How Things Work, Recent Research

Two days ago scientists at J. Craig Venter announced the creation of the first self-replicating synthetic cell, a bacteria with DNA made in a lab. How did they do it, and what does it mean for us in the future?

First up, the scientists didn’t make life out of nothing, and they didn’t make a new species. They recreated a bacteria that already existed, and developed the techniques to do it.

The bacteria is Mycoplasma mycoides. It’s a parasite which lives in cows, and some subspecies cause cow lung disease. It has a circular chromosome made of just under 600,000 base pairs, making it a small genome.

The scientists had the genome sequence of M. mycoides and split it into bite-size portions and then synthesised. Synthesising DNA is nothing new, scientists have been able to write DNA code for quite a while, and can write whatever code they want to.

These little chunks were put into yeast, which can be forced to absorb little bits of DNA. Inside the yeast, the chunks can be sewn together. It’s called recombination. The resulting medium chunks were taken out and put into more yeast to be sewn together making large chunks. There were 11 large chunks were put into more yeast, and sewn together into one complete genome.

Along the way and at the end they checked the code was right by doing PCR tests, genetic fingerprinting made famous by CSI.

Result: A synthetic genome, written by a computer and put together in yeast sweatshops.

Now they had to get it into a bacterial cell. At first they tried to put the DNA into bacterial cells of a similar species, M. capricolum. They ran into trouble at first, because the DNA they had was unmethylated (lacking methyl groups) and the bacteria destroys DNA which is unmethylated. It’s a clever defense mechanism, and they got around it by methylating the DNA before putting it in.

Finally success. The synthetic genome was put into an M. capricolum bacteria where it replaced the normal genome. The bacteria were controlled by the new, synthetic chromosome and were able to replicate billions of times.

What does it mean for us in the future? The technology these guys have developed could be used to alter the DNA of bacteria and make them do new things. From medicine to clean water, the benefits could be huge. We already have this ability to some extent, but it opens up some new doors.

Some organisations have raised concerns about the work. Could a new bacteria be unleashed and take over the world? Probably not. It’s hard to predict how new genes will work in cells, and everything is linked together in a way we don’t understand now. Too much tinkering to the genome will probably not be tolerated by the cell. And if it did get outside, it would probably be extinct pretty quickly because it doesn’t have thousands of years of evolution to prepare it for the world.

If it did get out, we could track it back to the company in charge. These guys watermarked their genome by adding some quotes into the DNA/protein code. Now that’s just epically geeky!

Gibson, D., & et al (2010). Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1190719

Mice make morphine, humans might too

// May 16th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Drugs, Recent Research

Image licensed Armin Kübelbeck

Morphine is a potent painkiller harvested from opium poppies. We can make it synthetically in the lab, but it’s cheaper to let plants do the hard work. If you haven’t taken morphine, you may have taken its sibling codeine. Codeine in converted to morphine in your liver, so it’s much the same thing albeit in a smaller dose.

For the study they labeled tetrahydropapaveroline (THP) found normally in mice brains. Labeling is often used in molecular biology, you can label things by including rare radioactive atoms, or by sticking another molecule onto the original molecule. It works like a tracking device.

The labeled THP was injected into mice, and out of their urine appeared labeled salutaridine which is a precursor to morphine in the opium poppies.

Then they labeled some synthetic salutaridine and injected it into the mice, and in the urine came out labeled thebaine. Labeled thebaine was injected and finally, lo and behold, labeled morphine appeared.

It took several steps, but the mouse converted THP into morphine. Here’s the kicker, THP is found normally in mice brains AND human brains! So this process could be happening in people. Right now, you could be making your own morphine. Indeed traces of morphine are found in human urine, but until now they weren’t sure if it was something in the diet.

If morphine is made in humans, what is it doing there? It could help control pain, which would explain why our bodies respond so strongly to a dose of morphine.

Grobe, N., Lamshoft, M., Orth, R., Drager, B., Kutchan, T., Zenk, M., & Spiteller, M. (2010). Urinary excretion of morphine and biosynthetic precursors in mice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107 (18), 8147-8152 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1003423107