'Conan the Bacterium' is radiation-resistant for a surprising reason | Hacker News Reader

'Conan the Bacterium' is radiation-resistant for a surprising reason

cnn.com

26 pointsjanandonly7 comments

Journal article: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2417389121

> When dried and frozen, Deinococcus radiodurans could survive 140,000 grays, or units of X-and gamma-ray radiation, which is 28,000 times greater than the amount of radiation that could kill a person.

I would love also if they called it Hulk the Bacterium

I can't help but upvote this article just because of the bacteria's name.

Real life RadAway....

Something seems wrong here though, I don't see don't any explanation for the mechansim of action.

From the abstract of the paper, the mechanism for radioprotection is the antioxidant properties of this particular mixture of Mg, orthophosphate, and this short peptide.

"Mn2+ coordinated by orthophosphate (Pi), metabolites, or peptides acts as a superoxide dismutase (SOD), and these Mn antioxidant complexes are universally accumulated in extremely radiation-resistant cell types across the tree of life."

However, the paper is really just studying the chemical properties of the mixture to understand why it works as a better antioxidant than just Mg+Pi

.. due to an antioxidant. More research is needed.

   Previous research has shown that Deinococcus, known as the most radiant-resistant life-form in the Guinness World Records, can survive outside of the International Space Station for three years. The hardy bacteria can also withstand acid, cold, and dehydration.

I cynically suspect if there's more research, it will be to engineer bio weapons.

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