♪♪
I'M LUKE TIPPLE,
AND THIS IS YOUR "DAILY BITE."
SHARKS ARE LOOKING AND MORE LIKE
GENETIC SUPERHEROES EVERY DAY.
NEW DISCOVERIES ARE BEGINNING
TO REVEAL THE SECRETS
TO SHARKS' HEALING ABILITIES,
AND THEIR GENETIC CODE
IS JUST THE BEGINNING.
♪♪
SHARKS ARE ESSENTIALLY
MODERN-DAY, LIVING FOSSILS,
AND STUDYING THEM
CAN HELP UNLOCK
THE EVOLUTION
OF MAMMALS LIKE US.
INSIDE SHARKS ARE TINY MOLECULES
THAT TELL THE STORY OF HOW OUR
IMMUNE SYSTEMS HAVE DEVELOPED
AND CHANGED OVER THE CENTURIES.
ONE THING THAT SHARKS
HAVE MANAGED TO KEEP UNDERCOVER
IS THEIR INCREDIBLE ABILITY
TO FIGHT OFF DISEASE.
NOW, REMEMBER,
THESE GUYS HAVE BEEN AROUND
FOR A LONG, LONG TIME,
WAY LONGER THAN US HUMANS.
BUT EVEN THOUGH WE ARE MAMMALS,
WE SHARE MORE SIMILARITIES
WITH SHARKS THAN YOU MAY THINK.
AND DISCOVERING THE SECRETS
OF THEIR GENETIC CODE
COULD ENHANCE OUR ABILITY
TO CURE HUMAN ILLNESSES.
SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN STUDYING
SHARKS' BLOOD
TO GET A CLOSER LOOK
AND MAP OUT THE STORY
OF THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEMS.
THE RESEARCH IS STILL YOUNG,
BUT WE KNOW THAT SHARKS
HAVE THREE SPECIAL ANTIBODIES.
TWO OF THOSE WE SORT OF SHARE
WITH SHARKS,
BUT THE THIRD IS TOTALLY UNIQUE.
NOW, LIKE US,
SHARKS USE THESE ANTIBODIES
TO CLEAR OUT PATHOGENS --
THOSE ARE THE BAD GUYS.
BUT UNLIKE US, THEY'RE ABLE
TO DO IT AT SUPERPOWER SPEEDS,
SORT OF LIKE
A CERTAIN COMIC-BOOK MUTANT.
BUT NOT ALL OF SHARKS' SECRETS
ARE HIDDEN IN THEIR BLOOD
AND ANTIBODIES.
♪♪
SCIENTISTS HAVE MAPPED OUT
THE GREAT WHITE SHARKS' GENOME,
AND THEY'VE DISCOVERED
THAT THEY'RE LOADED UP
WITH WHAT'S CALLED
"JUMPING GENES."
THOSE ARE TINY GENETIC ELEMENTS
THAT CAN HOP AROUND
WHEREVER THEY MIGHT BE NEEDED,
INCLUDING REPAIRING DNA.
♪♪
SO, SURE, THEY HAVE SOME AMAZING
DISEASE-FIGHTING BLOOD,
BUT IT'S LITERALLY IN THEIR DNA.
AND GREAT WHITES ARE
MODERN-DAY PROOF OF SHARKS'
400 MILLION-YEAR-OLD
GENETIC SUPERIORITY.
BUT SHARKS AREN'T COMPLETELY
INVULNERABLE TO ILLNESS.
A BRAIN-EATING BACTERIA
THAT'S COMMONLY FOUND IN FISH
HAS BEEN RECENTLY DISCOVERED TO
AFFECT MULTIPLE SHARK SPECIES.
WE HAVE SHARK WEEK SCIENTIST
MELISSA CRISTINA
MáRQUEZ HERE TO TELL US MORE.
HI.
I'M MELISSA CRISTINA MáRQUEZ.
AND I AM A SHARK SCIENTIST.
NOW, ONE BIG MYTH
THAT SURROUNDS SHARKS
IS THAT THEY'RE NOT
VULNERABLE TO DISEASES,
AND THAT'S JUST NOT TRUE.
SHARKS, LIKE US, DO GET SICK,
THEY DO GET CANCER,
AND, ACTUALLY, MOST RECENTLY,
THEY GET A BACTERIA
THAT EATS THEIR BRAIN
AND ESSENTIALLY MAKES THEM
INTO ZOMBIE SHARKS.
SO, IT'S CALLED
"CARNOBACTERIUM,"
AND IT'S A BACTERIA
FOUND NATURALLY
IN THE STOMACHS
OF TROUT AND SALMON.
AND IT DOESN'T AFFECT US,
SO DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.
BUT WHAT SCIENTISTS
BELIEVE IS HAPPENING
IS THAT THESE SHARKS
THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY EATING
THESE ANIMALS ARE ACTUALLY
INGESTING THIS BACTERIA
AND THEN PASSING IT
TO ANY SHARKS THAT ARE IN UTERO,
SO, ESSENTIALLY,
THESE SHARKS ARE BEING BORN
WITH THIS BRAIN-EATING DISEASE.
SO, WHAT HAPPENS IS,
IS THAT THE BACTERIA CRAWLS
INTO AN ORIFICE OF THE SHARK
AND ESSENTIALLY STARTS MUNCHING
AWAY AT THE SHARK'S BRAIN,
TURNING THEM INTO A ZOMBIE
BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO IDEA
WHAT THEY'RE DOING WHATSOEVER.
AND IT CONTINUES BEACHING ITSELF
UNTIL IT EVENTUALLY DIES.
AND IT'S NOT JUST
ONE SPECIES OF SHARK --
YOU'VE GOT THIS HAPPENING
IN MAKO SHARKS,
IN THRESHER SHARKS,
AND EVEN BASKING SHARKS,
AND SOME OF THEM ARE ACTUALLY
WASHING UP ONSHORE
IN CALIFORNIA.
SO, LIKE MANY THINGS
IN SHARK SCIENCE,
WE DON'T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS.
WE'RE STILL TRYING TO
FIGURE OUT WHAT'S GOING ON.
BUT THAT'S ONE REALLY COOL THING
THAT YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW
ABOUT SHARKS IS THAT
THEY'RE JUST AS VULNERABLE
AS WE ARE TO DISEASES,
BUT MAYBE NOT WITH SHARK-EATING,
BRAIN-EATING BACTERIA,
SO DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT.
SHARKS STILL CLEARLY
HAVE A TON TO EACH US,
SO IT'S INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT
THAT WE KEEP THEM AROUND.
THEY ARE EXCELLENT AT ADAPTING.
THE PROOF IS
CERTAINLY OUT THERE --
400 MILLION YEARS AND COUNTING.
AND HUMANS HAVE ONLY BEEN
AROUND A FRACTION OF THAT TIME,
AND WE'VE MANAGED TO MAKE
OURSELVES SHARKS' GREATEST ENEMY
WHEN WE OUGHT TO BE
TREATING THEM
LIKE THE GREATEST ASSET
TO OUR OWN SPECIES' SURVIVAL.
STICK WITH US ALL SHARK WEEK
LONG AS WE CONTINUE
TO BRING THE MOST JAW-DROPPING
DISCOVERIES IN SHARK.
IN THE NEXT EPISODE
OF THE "DAILY BITE,"
WE'RE TALKING TO
THE SHARK PAPARAZZI.
