Venom in Biological News

Here's venom in your eye: Spitting cobras hit their mark

Spitting cobras have an exceptional ability to spray venom into eyes of potential attackers. A new study published in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology reveals how these snakes maximize their chances of hitting the target. The name "spitting cobra" is a bit of a misnomer. Cobras don't act...

The bombardier beetle, power venom and spray technologies

The bombardier beetle is inspiring designers of engines, drug-delivery devices and fire extinguishers to improve spray technologies, writes Andy McIntosh, from Leeds University, and Novid Beheshti, of Swedish Biomimetics 3000 Ltd, in Aprils Physics World. The bombardier beetle, found mainly in ...

Does the victim affect snake venom composition?

A snake's intended prey might affect the type and evolution of toxins in their venom, research published in the online open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology shows. In snakes, venom composition varies both between species and within a particular species. Land snakes feed on a range of an...

Tarantula venom and chili peppers target same pain sensor

Venom from a West Indian tarantula has been shown to cause pain by exciting the same nerve cells in mice that sense high temperatures and the hot, spicy ingredient in chili peppers, UCSF scientists have discovered. The findings demonstrate that some plants and animals have evolved the same molecu...

Radioactive scorpion venom for fighting cancer

Health physicists are establishing safe procedures for a promising experimental brain-cancer therapy which uses a radioactive version of a protein found in scorpion venom. For many, this will conjure images of Spiderman's nemesis, the Scorpion. The purpose of this work is not science fiction, but...

Stanford snake venom study shows that certain cells may eliminate poison

Death by snakebite is horrible. The immediate pain of the bite is followed by swelling, bruising and weakness, then sweating or chills, with numbness, nausea, blurred vision and possibly convulsions before it's all over. Such misery is produced by a veritable witches' brew of toxins in snake venom....

Taipan venom no snake oil

Australian snakes' venom could provide the next generation of human therapeutic drugs. A blood-clotting protein in taipan venom has been identified by Queensland University of Technology PhD researcher Liam St Pierre to rapidly stop excessive bleeding during vascular surgery and major trauma. ...

Evolution mystery: Spider venom and bacteria share same toxin

It's a case of evolutionary detective work. Biology researchers at Lewis & Clark College and the University of Arizona have found evidence for an ancient transfer of a toxin between ancestors of two very dissimilar organisms--spiders and a bacterium. But the mystery remains as how the toxin pas...

Researchers find first evidence of venom system in extinct mammal

A tiny fossil found more than 10 years ago in central Alberta has proved to be the key to answering a long unsolved evolutionary question, say researchers from the University of Alberta. Back in 1991, Dr. Richard Fox and his research team found a 60 million year-old incomplete skull fossil that ...

Spider Venom Could Yield Eco-Friendly Insecticides

Biochemist Glenn King is searching for an alternative to chemical pesticides. King's research on insect-specific neurotoxins focuses on one the world's most efficient insect predators -- spiders. The Blue Mountains funnel-web spider (Hadronyche versuta) -- a large Australian spider with a bite that...

Venomous sea snakes play heads or tails with their predators

...es in the sea, inhabiting shallow water and are active predators, feeding on small fish found around coral reefs. All sea snakes have extremely potent venom which is among the most toxic known in all snake species. When hunting for food sea snakes probe crevices and coral formations, temporarily forcing...

A combined tooth-venom arsenal revealed as key to Komodo dragon's hunting strategy

... Dragon (Varanus komodoensis) has the most complex venom glands yet described for any reptile, and that its... combined arsenal of the Komodo Dragon's tooth and venom that account for their hunting prowess," said Dr F.... "The combination of this specialized bite and venom seem to minimise the Dragon's contact with its pre...

Komodo even more deadly than thought: Research

...ws that the combination of the reptiles' teeth and venom likely accounts for their hunting prowess. "The...esonance imaging revealed the dragons have complex venom glands as well. After surgically excising the g...r to that of the Gila monster and many snakes. The venom causes a severe loss in blood pressure by preventi...

Tentacles of venom: New study reveals all octopuses are venomous

...s, the other species have been quietly using their venom for predation, such as paralysing a clam into open... understanding the structure and mode of action of venom proteins we can benefit drug design for a range of...h and squid) remain an untapped resource and their venom may represent a unique class of compounds. Dr F...

New species of spiders discovered by UBC scientist in Papua New Guinea

...ence. Maddison says the smaller animals like insects and spiders and plants may hold the secret to many of the world's unknown chemicals. "Spider venom has evolved for millions of years to affect the neurological systems of the spider's insect prey, and each species of spider gives us another opportun...

Rattlesnake-type poisons used by superbug bacteria to beat our defenses

...f hospital superbugs can make poisons similar to those found in rattlesnake venom to attack our bodies' natural defences, scientists heard today (Monday 8 Se... of the active ingredients in rattlesnake venom. In the case of rattlesnake venom the protein causes the host cells to commit suicide and die, which is one r...

American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- July 9, 2008

... ARTICLE #4 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Snake venom tells tales about geography Journal of Proteome ...awl or New England twang, poisonous snakes produce venom that differs distinctly from one geographic area t...t out that researchers have known for decades that venom collected from snakes of the same species from dif...

Duck-billed platypus genome sequence published

...Males also possess hind leg spurs that can deliver venom powerful enough to wound territorial competitors d...t. Scientists were also eager to find out how venom production became a part of the platypus genome. W...an analyzing the genetic sequences responsible for venom production in the male platypus, they made a surpr...

UC San Diego researchers eliminate drug discovery bottleneck

...each stage using mass spectrometry. This work is an extension of an award-winning automated approach Bandeira and colleagues used to reconstruct snake venom peptides. Our Recomb 2008 paper represents the first demonstration of de novo sequencing of nonribosomal peptides. Without knowing the structure of...

How cancer spreads by aggregating platelets

...the top one percent of papers reviewed in significance and overall importance. Suzuki-Inoue and colleagues had previously discovered that the snake venom rhodocytin stimulates platelet aggregation by binding to a protein called C-type lectin-like receptor 2 (CLEC-2) located on the surface of the platele...

Scientists use nanoparticle to discover disease-causing proteins

... A complex molecule and snake venom may provide researchers with a more reliable metho... that was delivered to specific proteins in living venom cells from a rattlesnake. The scientists want to f...e as a disease indicator, or biomarker. Snake venom cells were used because they have a very high conc...

One-of-a-kind imaging probe reveals secrets useful for drug discovery

...ts have unlocked secrets hidden in tiny amounts of venom taken from spindly insects called common two-strip...d hundreds of milkings to get enough walking stick venom for analysis. We were able to get great data from ...of brain tissue." Scientists used walking stick venom to demonstrate the technique partly because it com...

New biochip helps study living cells, may speed drug development

...le, lidocaine and Novocain target sodium-channels. In nature, some of the most potent venoms and toxins work by blocking these channels, including the venom of certain snakes and strychnine. Porterfield's chip is technically classified as a "cell electrophysiology lab-on-a-chip." The device is furthe...

Looking to a new era in bee research

...ral diet. Several papers address ways that honey bee studies can provide insights into human health. These papers cover the genetic bases of honey bee venom allergens, along with mechanistic insights into the remarkable longevity of queen honey bees and sperm stored in the spermatheca. The HBGSP has ...

Gatekeeping: Penn researchers find new way to open ion channels in cell membranes

... Using an enzyme found in the venom of the brown recluse spider, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered a new way to open molecular pores, calle...

Molecular miners find pain relief drugs from the sea

... in 2003 while studying the toxins produced in the venom of Conus victoriae, a marine cone snail found in t...the coast of Australia. All cone snails produce venom which they use to paralyse prey before killing and eating them. The venom of some cone snails is toxic to humans ?as many as...

Researchers reveal secrets of flying snakes

...ly and officially are classified as harmless. Flying snakes secrete mild venom that is only dangerous to their small prey. They are diurnal and opistoglyp...nd each has a small groove that runs along the fang's outer edge, where the venom drips down and into the prey. Whether or not the snake's choice of prey is ...

Venom doc tracks down snake bioweapons

...va protein repertoire. To date, 24 different snake venom toxins have been characterized by scientists, but ...rticle, Fry, the Deputy Director of the Australian venom Research Unit, identified the origin of the 24 kno...fic protein. "The wide-ranging origins of snake venom toxin - body counterparts explain the amazing dive...