Conan The Bacterium's Superpower: Resisting Radiation

Short Wave

NPR

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4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 13 December 2024

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

In the 1950s, scientists exposed a tin of meat to a dose of radiation that they expected would kill all forms of life. But one organism defied the odds and lived: Conan The Bacterium. Turns out this microorganism, known to science as Deinococcus radiodurans, is capable of surviving extreme levels of radiation — thousands of times the amount that would kill a human. So what's Conan's secret?

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0:13.7	The past, present, and future of Charles Dickens, a Christmas carol.
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0:29.9	Jessica Young here.
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0:36.4	And today we have Ari Shapiro.
0:38.5	Hello. Happy to be here. I hear today we're talking about the secret behind the world's most
0:44.6	radiation resistant microorganism. We also have cures for our loneliness epidemic.
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