[♩INTRO]
Back in the day, bacterial diseases were super deadly
just ask anyone who’s ever played The Oregon Trail.
You have died of dysentery … again.
But for nomadic people in northern Africa, dysentery wasn’t an issue.
They’d long known about an effective,
if hard to swallow cure: a steaming ball of camel poop.
This definitely sounds fake!
This incredible cure was first noted by Western science
in the late 1930s and early 1940s, when soldiers stationed in Africa
for World War II were dying of dysentery in droves,
while the local nomadic people seemed mercifully free from the illness.
Turned out they knew a secret: that eating camel dung
could prevent or cure dysentery.
And not camel dung that was dried and covered in chocolate
or dissolved in herbal tea with a little lemon or something to,
you know, make it marginally more palatable.
No, it had to be camel dung straight from the source.
If it wasn’t fresh and warm, it wouldn’t work.
A bit of scientific digging soon revealed why this works: bacteria.
Specifically, camel dung contains Bacillus subtilis
a bacteria first identified on hay in 1835,
though it’s now considered a soil microbe.
It’s a cousin of the most notorious soil microbe,
Bacillus anthracis, which causes anthrax.
Luckily, this species is kinder and gentler… to us.
It’s a straight up monster to other microbes.
Which is a big part of why it’s so great for treating dysentery!
These bacteria secrete antibiotics that knock out species like Shigella,
the bacteria often responsible for bacterial dysentery.
In fact, genes for producing antibiotics take up about five percent
of the B. subtilis genome!
Furthermore, studies suggest having these bacteria in our gut can stimulate our
immune system in ways that make us better at fending off stomach pathogens.
And clinical trials have found that they’re really helpful
for treating diarrheal diseases.
Now, given that B. subtilis was first spotted on grass
and is considered a common soil microbe,
you might be wondering why it had to be fresh camel poop.
Can’t I eat some dirt or grass?
I don’t want to eat camel poop!
Well, no one has specifically looked at this, but the amount of B. subtilis
in dung decreases over time, while things like fungi increase.
Also, the drier the bacteria get, the less likely it is that they’ll settle in
and reproduce when they do end up in an animal’s gut.
So, maybe it’s simply a numbers thing: it has to be fresh poop
to make sure you’re getting a large enough dose.
Fresh poop certainly has plenty of bacteria in it, especially camel poop,
because camels host a lot of Bacillus in their digestive systems.
Some scientists even think these bacteria have adapted
wto thrive inside the guts of animals.
And camels and other large herbivores gain a lot from letting them live there.
That’s because the bacteria produce enzymes
that help the animals break down the tough plant matter that they eat.
Of course, nowadays, severe bacterial dysentery is usually treated
with a course of basic antibiotics rather than a spoonful of camel poop.
Though, B. subtilis is still used as a probiotic.
The helpful bacteria are grown in labs and packed into capsules,
no dung required.
In fact, the species is so easy to grow, it’s become an important model organism!
So it’s made all sorts of contributions to science.
Researchers have used it to learn more about the fundamental processes
of cells, like how they divide, as well as the limits of bacterial survival.
So not only has it saved lives, it’s helped us understand life in general.
Now, despite its life-saving properties,
I’m guessing a fresh ball of camel dung won’t go over so well
as a gift this holiday season.
Plus, where would you even get one?
That’s how you get banned from the zoo.
Never fear, I have a gift idea that’s easy to obtain
and any science lover will appreciate!
Over on DFTBA.com we’ve just released a brand new
SciShow Magnetic Words set!
It’s full of science-y words curated by the whole SciShow team,
like ‘Mitochondria,’ and ‘Supermassive’ and ‘Quantum,’
and it comes packaged in a handsome, SciShow-branded tin.
You can use the set to announce important scientific discoveries on your fridge,
like: Researchers Have Found Microscopic Butt Hair On Mars!
And you can find it and lots of other SciShow merch
over on DFTBA.com/SciShow.
[♩OUTRO]