Australia is a country that is seemingly exists to kill you.
Many of the world’s most venomous animals live there, but, that might actually be a
good thing.
Recently scientists went hunting for these guys, deadly funnel web spiders.
They captured three, brought the wee beasties back to the lab and found something curious
in their venom that may have some surprising medical benefits for humans.
Venom is bad.
Yes.
It’s evolutionarily designed to kill.
Mmm-Hmm.
And yet.
But, venom is also good.
Venom is a toxic cocktail of proteins and peptides that precisely target molecules in
their victim’s.
Once venom hits the bloodstream it works quickly to either thin the blood, block messages between
nerves and muscles, and/or some other awful outcome that just does not end well for the
prey.
*evil look*
But, that’s because the spider’s just trying to live!
It just wants to eat!
If you think of venom more objectively, there are a number of peptides and enzymes in venom
itself that can be scientifically extracted and used for good!
Scientists are hoping to isolate peptides in animal toxins, synthesize and modify them
to treat diseases with no lethal side effects … basically transforming venom from a weapon
into medicine.
Venom-based drugs have been in our medicine cabinets for a while now.
Back in the late 1960s, a clinician discovered a toxic peptide in the venom of the Brazilian
Pit Viper that happened to selectively inhibit the action of angiotensin-converting enzyme
or ACE.
ACE is a chemical that plays a role in regulating blood pressure by causing vessels to constrict.
This led to the development of a class of drugs called ACE inhibitors, which are used
today to fight hypertension and congestive heart failure.
Awesome, right?
Knowing that, think about what we could learn.
There are over 100,000 venomous creatures out there, which means the possibilities for
future medical breakthroughs could be hiding inside a predator’s lethal venom anywhere
on the planet!
Which brings us back to these funnel-web-hunting scientists.
The scientists came across a similar breakthrough by looking closely at funnel web spider venom.
It contains a peptide: Hi1a, that’s known to “block acid-sensing ion channels in the
brain, which are key drivers of brain damage after a stroke.”
To test it, they isolated Hi1a and gave it to rats.
Then, they induced strokes in the rats, and found that the Hi1a spider peptide protected
up to 77 percent of the rat’s brain cells post-stroke!
Yay!
I mean it sucks for those rats, but it’s a breakthrough for stroke research!
There are currently no drugs on the market that can protect your brain if you have one,
so this is really promising.
And it’s not just snakes and spiders.
Scorpion toxins could treat autoimmune disease, centipede venom could help with chronic pain,
and gila monster proteins might treat diabetes.
There are even deadly snails crawling along the ocean floor filled with potent neurotoxins
-- and inside that neurotoxin is a peptide that can reduce pain.
Scientists synthesized it into a painkiller that is supposed to be 1,000 times more potent
than morphine.
Bottom line, we’re hardwired to be afraid of snakes and spiders, but thanks to science
they’re saving huge numbers of lives every day.
That doesn’t mean you should go out in your backyard and catch a deadly snake thinking
you’ll find a cure for alzheimers … let the crazy experts do that!
My dad used to say snakes were aliens.
No DAD.
But they are pretty weird.
How did they evolved to swallow things whole for example?
We got the answers here: Are you too freaked out by spiders to even
watch this video, I don’t know how you made it this far, but tell us down in the comments,
make sure you subscribe for more Seeker and thank you for watching.
One more thing happy birthday Lauren our new Associate Producer who wrote this episode.
Happy birthday!