YOUNG marsupials live in a pouch full of potentially lethal bacteria. Yet newborn marsupials are at the same level of development as a human embryo, so how do they manage to survive?
Now a team lead by Janine Deakin at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, has found that developing possums can produce mature antibodies while still in the pouch.
The researchers found that young brushtail possums stop relying on protection from their mother’s milk when they are 70 days old, and start producing their own mature antibodies. This means they can defend themselves against infection before they have opened their…
