Scientists are on the search for new ways to fight superbugs, and have discovered a protein in platypus milk that could save lives. Superbugs, a catch-all term for antibiotic resistant bacteria, increasingly threaten our existence. According to the CDC, “each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections.”

Platypus have a unique feeding system. Instead of teats, the milk concentrates in their belly, and they feed their young by sweating the milk out. Scientists think that this feeding system produces antibacterial protein in the milk “in order to protect the young from the possibility of infection. When mammals evolved teats, a sterile delivery system for milk, the protein was no longer as important in an evolutionary sense.”

According to Janet Newman, CSIRO scientist and lead author on the research, “Platypus are such weird animals that it would make sense for them to have weird biochemistry.” National Geographic describes the platypus “as a hodgepodge of more familiar species” such as the duck, beaver, and otter. Male platypus are venomous and have stingers on their feet that can deliver poisonous blows, which is a pretty nifty defense mechanism I wish I had.