A painful spider bite can make you question why such creatures exist. Yet just because "pests" like spiders, scorpions, and snakes lack the appeal that kittens and puppies possess, it doesn't mean they aren't important or useful.
Yesterday, an article from Medical News Today drove this message home by highlighting some of the medical benefits we derive from six of the creatures we tend to complain the most about. As writer Honor Whiteman explains in the story, scientists are exploring ways to use toxins and substances produced by so-called pest animals, such as spiders, scorpions, and reptiles, to treat chronic pain, repair nerves, and develop new ways to kill the human immunodeficiency virus.
From the piece:
In 2013, MNT [Medical News Today] reported on a study published in Antiviral Therapy, in which researchers revealed how a toxin found in bee venom - melittin - has the potential to destroy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
The investigators, from the Washington University School of Medicine, explained that melittin is able to make holes in the protective, double-layered membrane that surrounds the HIV virus. Delivering high levels of the toxin to the virus via nanoparticles could be an effective way to kill it.
...
A more recent study published in September 2014 claims bees may also be useful for creating a new class of antibiotics. Researchers from the Lund University in Sweden discovered lactic acid bacteria in fresh honey found in the stomachs of bees that has antimicrobial properties.
The story cites several other potential uses for venoms and animal-derived substances, such as my favorite example, Gila monster spit:
In 2007, a study by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine revealed how exenatide - a synthetic form of a compound found in the saliva of the Gila monster, called exendin-4 - may help people with diabetes control their condition and lose weight.
The compound works by causing the pancreas to produce more insulin when blood sugar is too high. In the study, 46% of patients who were given exenatide in combination with diabetes drug metformin had good control of their blood sugar, compared with only 13% of control participants.
As Whiteman explains in the article, many of these potential medical treatments are still in the early stages of development. Yet some therapies, such as the synthetic version of the compound found in Gila monster saliva, exenatide, are already in use, offering hope that other animal-derived medical treatments may be available in the future.
Previously: Tiny fruit flies as powerful diabetes model, Fruit flies headed to the International Space Station to study the effects of weightlessness on the heart, Biomedical Indiana Jones travels the world collecting venom for medical research and Tarantula venom peptide shows promise as a drug
Photo by H Dragon
