veno

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 is deadly to humans and insects -- is an ideal source of venom for King's research. The spider "coo...

Venom doc tracks down snake bioweapons

Bryan Grieg Fry, Ph.D., a scientist from the University of Melbourne, Australia, has conducted the first comprehensive analysis of the origin and evolution of one of nature's most sophisticated bioweapons: snake venom. His results are reported in the March issue of the journal Genome Research. Venomous snakes, all of which belong to the superfamily Colubroidea, evolved glands for the stora...

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 they now believe is the first evidence of an extinct mammal with a venom delivery apparatus. Th...

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 passed between the two organisms. Their research is published this month in the journal Bioinformatics,...

Taipan venom no snake oil

Australian snakes' venom could provide the next generation of human therapeutic drugs. The genetic code for the toxin, Factor X (Factor Ten), was identified by PhD researcher Li...

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. It's long been thought that the body's own immune system, rather than reducing the symptoms...

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 rather to help to develop a promising new therapy for brain cancer. The venom of the yellow Israe...

Study shows pine bark naturally decreases severe chronic venous insufficiency

Recent findings published in the journal of Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Hematosis show a significant symptom reduction of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) in patients after supplementing with Pycnogenol® (pic-noj-en-all), an antioxidant plant extract from the bark of the French maritime pine tree. Over 35 years of research on Pycnogenol® demonstrate the antioxidant's ability to improve blo...

Intravenous gene therapy protects normal tissue of mice during whole-body radiation

therapy administered intravenously could be used as an agent to protect vital organs and tissues from the effects of ionizing radiation in the event of large-scale exposure from a radiological or nuclear bomb, according to an animal study presented today by University of Pittsburgh researchers at the 48th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) in Phi...

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 molecular strategy to deter predators -- triggering pain by activating a specific receptor on sensory...

Nonvenomous Asian snakes 'borrow' defensive poison from toxic toads

Most snakes are born with poisonous bites they use for defense. But what can non-poisonous snakes do to ward off predators? That's exactly what happens in the relationship between an Asian snake and a species of toad, according to a team of researchers funded by the National Science Found...

Intravenous nanoparticle gene therapy shows activity in stage IV lung cancer

A cancer-suppressing gene has been successfully delivered into the tumors of stage 4 lung cancer patients via an intravenously administered lipid nanoparticle in a phase I clinical trial at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The gene, FUS1, also was found to be active in the metastatic non-small cell lung cancer tumors. "We've treated 13 patients in this first-in-hum...