Turkeys May Hold the Next Medical Miracle

As if a good meal, a little relaxation, and family together weren't enough, here's another reason to be thankful for that bird on your table this coming Thanksgiving. The turkey commonly plays host to a particularly "good" bacteria - one that could create a potentially life-saving antibiotic.

That's at least according to a study recently published in the Journal of Bacteriology which details how the MP1 antibiotic is produced by a bacteria commonly referred to as "Strain 115."

MP1 has been known to target roughly half of all infectious bacteria that affect humans, even the causes of staph infection, strep throat, and several gastrointestinal diseases. Researchers have known that strain 115 can be found in turkeys, and has been keeping the birds healthy on farms for years.

Now, a team of scientists claim to have discovered how this "good" bacteria strain produces this mysterious antibiotic - a process that could potentially help experts craft a similar functioning antibiotic in humans.

"Our research group is certainly thankful for turkeys," research lead Joel Griffitts said in a recent statement, as these birds have allowed his team to study the strain and its mechanisms in live organisms at their leisure.

According to the study, the research team used mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to identify exactly how Strain 115 makes MP1 without killing itself in the process, as the antibiotic should normally attack the strain as well.

"It's sort of like outfitting a car with special tires that protect against unusual road hazards," Griffitts said - road hazards the car is laying ahead of itself.

The team found that when producing MP1, the bacteria also produces a protective plasmid, effectively shielding it from its own medicine. This mechanism is what likely allowed researchers in the past to craft powerful bacterial vaccines to protect farm turkeys.

Now, several decades after the first turkey vaccination, Griffitts and his team are trying to see if a similar mechanism can be crafted in humans, which would be a life-saving boon in a world where traditional antibiotics are becoming increasingly useless.