Protect life; Protect platypus
Protect life
While Life-Conservation organizations are trying to protect life on Earth, especially endangered species, at the same time popular scientific journals are using the newest info to support massive exploitation. Especially popular is the exploitation of natural habitat and all life in Asian countries and now we cannot ignore their influence and efforts to exploit Australian and recently, African continents.
Recently, scientists found out about the content of platypus milk and established the presence of the newest protein with antimicrobial properties. These articles didn’t explain anything about this specific protein, but they did emphasize the benefits of antimicrobial properties as a possible solution for “growing scourge of antimicrobial resistance”.
The specific physiognomy of these creatures and their biochemistry is also pointed out, with the same possible benefit for humankind. Instead of this point of view, the focus should be on the specific species organization, adapted for survival in a very difficult environment with enormous efforts to protect their young. Reasons for exposure of platypus milk on their belly is for babies to use it and not for other creatures, which do have their own best antimicrobial and nutrition resources. Every protein can be well classified in families explaining their major properties. Scientific journals and magazines could give us this detail so that all scientific communities can have a clear picture of protein nature. Instead of giving info, journals just pointed out the benefits of platypus milk and exposed this endogenous creature to the unnecessary risk. As it proves to be costumed, every once in a while, the wide public gets the info for which they think are very valuable and after some (hopefully) short time, it proves as untrue. But in the meantime, hundreds and thousands of lives have already been sacrificed and no result besides death and suffering are gained.
Platypus milk is exposed onto a milk pad and despite the opposite thinking that it can be used by any species, we can not see this in nature, because their specific biochemistry is adapted only to their species to use, to their young. No other species will use it and therefore, we should neither. In the world of biochemistry, we all know basics, that every protein is as a key, used for the specific substrate, presented as a door. We cannot use a key that is not appropriate for that specific door we want to open. Wide public all know this from elementary and high school and the scientific public knows that a “key” can be slightly adapted only for a similar type of substrate. The question is, where can we see similar types of species to platypus? Is there any?
Before we expose our values and above all, endangered life, let’s think this through and prove is it really necessary and what will be the final results?
