Deadly creatures saving lives

The creatures that make us say ‘ick’ are on the cutting edge of today’s medical research, just as they were thousands of years ago.

Lizards, snakes spiders, and scorpions — We run from them with good reason. Their venomous bites contain chemicals that can often kill.

But, could venom also heal?

The ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Greeks thought so (hence the medical symbol with a snake climbing a staff). Today’s scientists are experimenting with various venoms for clues to fighting cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, according to Christie Wilcox, author of Venomous: How Earth’s Deadliest Creatures Mastered Biochemistry.

Wilcox writes that since the beginning of this century, scientists have been looking at venoms as complex chemical libraries that can target key molecules.

The way venom kills might be used to heal. For example, a snake venom that causes a dramatic and deadly drop in blood pressure might be fine-tuned and tweaked to control blood pressure. That’s exactly what happened with the drug Captopril, derived from a Brazilian viper.

Another drug, Byetta, fights type-2 diabetes and is derived from the venom of a Gila monster. A molecule from the venom encourages insulin production in the presence of high blood sugar and lasts for hours in the blood.

Snake and spider venom may one day be used to cure relentless pain from firing neurons. It turns out that snake and spider venom naturally shut down neurons.

Venomous shrews have a compound in the venom that blocks an essential element that cancer cells need for growth and division. A trial is underway on this new drug now.