The milk of the duck-billed platypus has a unique protein with antimicrobial properties that Australian scientists believe could be a new lead in creating antibiotics effective against superbugs. Scientists at Deakin University in Geelong, near Melbourne, isolated the milk proteins in platypus milk as part of their study of lactation among monotremes and marsupials. The monotreme milk protein killed them. There are many questions to be answered before researchers know if the proteins in platypus milk can be developed in this direction, Newman said. The researchers at CSIRO and Deakin did their early research on platypus milk "because it was cool," she said, but didn't have dedicated funding.

Source: CBC News March 16, 2018 18:56 UTC