Extremophile lifeforms on Earth are able to slightly astounding feats, with the key behind the intense radiation resistance of one in every of them now lastly teased out by researchers. As some of the spectacular extremophiles, Deinococcus radiodurans is ready to endure ionizing radiation ranges 1000’s of occasions increased than what would decisively kill a multicellular organism like us people. The trick is the antioxidant which this bacterium synthesizes from a number of metabolites that mix with manganese. An synthetic model of this antioxidant has now been created that replicates the protecting impact.
The ternary advanced dubbed MDP consists of manganese ions, phosphate and a small peptide, which thus far has seen software in creating vaccines for chlamydia. As famous in a 2023 research in Radiation Medicine and Protection by [Feng Liu] et al. nonetheless, the D. radiodurans bacterium has extra survival mechanisms than simply this antioxidant. Although a lot of the ionizing radiation is neutralized this manner, it can’t be absolutely prevented. This is the place the extremely efficient DNA restore mechanism comes into play, together with a variety of different variations.
The upshot of that is the synthesis of a really efficient and helpful antioxidant, however as alluded to within the press releases, simply injecting people with MDP is not going to immediately give them the identical tremendous powers as our D. radiodurans buddy.
Featured picture: Survival mechanisms in Deinococcus radiodurans bacterium. (Credit: Feng Liu et al., 2023)
