Mighty Milk

Tasmanian devil milk fights superbugs, Australian researchers have claimed.

18:22 19 October 2016

Milk from Tasmanian devils’ milk contains important peptides that can be useful in fighting antibiotic-resistant superbugs, Australian researchers have claimed.

 

Experts from Sydney University, who are now considering making treatments that mimic the peptides, believe that devils evolved this cocktail to help their young grow stronger.

 

In the research published in the nature journal Scientific Reports, the researchers said that they have scanned the devil’s genetic code to find and recreate the infection-fighting compounds, called cathelicidins.

 

One of the researchers, PhD student Emma Peel, said that they found six important peptides. She also said: "Tammar wallabies have eight of these peptides and opossums have 12,”

 

Experts focus on studying marsupials because their babies thrive in a relatively dirty environment. Tasmanian devil mothers give birth after only a few weeks of pregnancy and their tiny offspring spend the next four months maturing in their mother’s pouch. 

 

Experts agree that we urgently need new drugs to fight treatment-resistant infections.

 

Dr Richard Stabler, Associate Professor in Molecular Bacteriology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "We need to do this hunting in unusual places for new antibiotics. People are beginning to explore and find new molecules."