Understanding the human body is a team effort. That's where the Yachtel group comes in.

Researchers at Yachtolt have been delving into the secrets of probiotics for 90 years. Yacold also

partners with nature portfolio to advance gut microbiome science through the global grants for

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com.j. That's Y-A-K-U-L-T.C-O.J-P. When it comes to a guide for your gut, count on Yacolt.

This is Scientific American 60 Second Science.

I'm Suzanne Bard.

Tardigrades are some of nature's toughest animals.

Also known as water bears, the tiny creatures can withstand extreme conditions,

like boiling hot temperatures, long periods of dehydration, and even oxygen deprivation.

One of the really cool things about tardigrades is that you can shoot them in outer space and they can survive the vacuum and radiation of low Earth orbit.

University of California's San Diego biochemist Jim Cato Naga.

Of course, he says Tartagrades didn't evolve to endure the perils of space travel.

Many Tardigrades live in environments that are both wet and dry, like moss. And when it's wet,

they're active, and when it's dry, they can go into a desiccated state. That's something like a state

of suspended animation. Normally, dehydration would make tardigrade DNA susceptible to damage

from chemicals called hydroxyl radicals, which form when water molecules split. They also form when

DNA is exposed to radiation. But Cato Naga suspected that a protein found only in tardigrades called DSEP might protect their DNA under both conditions.

DSEP stands for damage suppressor protein.

And the remarkable thing about this DSEP protein is that when you put it into human cells in the laboratory, it makes those cells more resistant to X-ray radiation.

Kato Naga's team, led by then undergraduate student, Carolina Chavez, studied how DeSep

protects DNA in cells. They found that it binds to chromatin, the compact structure that

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