dragon genome, we found
that they actually have a number
of evolutionary adaptations
that
help them use oxygen to make
energy more efficiently.
and what's amazing about these
lizards, these komodo dragons,
they can bring down an animal
the size of a water buffalo
with the venom in their bite,
but when they're fighting each
other, how do they manage to survive
that if one bites the other?
right.
so, there's an anticoagulant
in the komodo dragon's saliva
and when we looked at the komodo
dragon genome and compared it
to the genome of other lizards,
we found that there is a lot
of different protein changes
in the proteins that cause blood
clots to form.
and so what we think is happening
is all these changes in proteins
that form blood clots are working
together to form a blood clot even
in the presence of this
anticoagulant so that the komodo
dragon can still heal.
it's interesting — i mean,
the research and the sequencing
and what it's revealed
of itself is fascinating.
but ijust wonder...