In turn, insulin causes the liver, muscles, and adipose tissues to take up glucose from the blood. GLP-1 stimulates the beta-cells in the pancreas to release insulin. Secreted in the gut, GLP-1 ultimately lowers blood sugar levels by making its way through the blood stream to the pancreas. These compounds serve as metabolic hormones that stimulate a decrease in blood glucose levels. To appreciate why this research team thinks that the platypus GLP-1 hormone may have use in treating diabetes, a little background is in order.įound in all mammals, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) belongs to a family of biomolecules called incretins. 1 They believe that this insight may lead to a new drug treatment for type 2 diabetes. Recently, researchers from Australia demonstrated the value of studying platypus biology when they discovered that a gut hormone (GLP-1) which regulates blood sugar levels doubles as a component in the duck-billed platypus’s venom. And because they group apart from other mammals, many life scientists believe that they can learn a lot about the mammalian biology (including human biology) through comparative studies of the monotremes. Biologists regard monotremes as primitive mammals. Instead, it belongs to an unusual group called the monotremes. This creature is neither a placental nor a marsupial mammal. Not only does the duck-billed platypus fascinate animal lovers, it has captured the attention of the scientific community. The venom can kill a small animal (such as a dog) and cause excruciating pain for humans. Being struck by a platypus’s spurs is no pleasant thing. The platypus has spurs on its hind feet, and for males, the spurs are loaded with venom. This little creature reminded me of a beaver as he swam around in the water.īut as cute and cuddly as the duck-billed platypus appears to be, I came to learn (not by experience but by listening to the zookeeper) that you don’t want to mess with this egg-laying mammal. I wouldn’t classify it as a bucket-list experience, but it was off-the-charts cool to see a duck-billed platypus up close a few years ago when my wife and I visited Tasmania.
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