What's new in venom research?

Celtic Biotech is using the venom of rattlesnakes to work towards a cancer cure. From IrishTimes.com:

Celtic Biotech, founded in 2003 by businessmen John Reid and Dr Paul Reid, has developed a treatment for advanced cancer from a powerful protein found in rattlesnake venom.

The company will this week begin testing the drug, now known as CB24, on patients at the George Pompidou University Hospital, Paris, under the supervision of consultant cancer specialist Jacques Medioni.

Celtic Biotech expects the trials to last about a year. They are designed to highlight the therapeutic value and safety of the drug.

The Irish company discovered a protein in rattlesnake venom that causes malignant cancer cells to self-destruct, a process known as cell death.

Two independent studies, by the US National Cancer Institute and University of Texas MD Anderson cancer center, have confirmed the protein’s anti-cancer properties.

In Australia, the venom of Funnelweb Spiders is being looked at as the new weapon in the fight against breast cancer. From FoxNews.com:

Dr. David Wilson has stockpiled venom from the fangs of up to 10 Australian funnel-webs for the two-year trial. His team will isolate up to 300 molecules in the venom and expose them to cancer cells to see how they react.

Wilson said spider venom contained molecules that have evolved to perform specific functions over millions of years. "They are designed to target very specific sites and we are hoping that some of these molecules target cancer cells."

The research was revealed Monday as Australians mark Pink Ribbon Day, which raises money for breast cancer prevention programs, support services and research.

Dr. Norelle Daly said the spider research, funded by the National Breast Cancer Foundation, was in its early stages. Venom molecules are used in chronic pain prevention, and scorpion venom has also been shown to bind to cancer cells in mice.

Even Iran is researching anti-cancer uses of venom. And some biology students at Tabor College in Kansas have learned a new meaning to the question, "Got Milk?" From the Hillsboro Star-Journal:

“I don’t want to traumatize the snake here, I’m going to be as gentle as I can,” Raugust said, as he pinned the first snake to the table with a metal tool and grasped it firmly behind the head.

With one snake and then the other, Raugust manipulated their heads so the exposed fangs hung over the edge of a small glass beaker.

“Right back here is where the venom sacs are,” Raugust said as he massaged the snakes’ heads to coax the venom out of them.

“The venom has all kinds of uses. They’re studying the venom to use on Parkinson’s, partial paralysis, and there’s an anti-coagulant in it so it keeps blood from clotting,” Raugust said. “They’re doing a lot of studies with venom because it has some interesting medicinal properties.”

It all starts with starving grad students, like Biology of the Rattlesnake presenter Chip Cochran. His research project, which is currently self-funded, is looking at populations of Speckled Rattlesnakes.

The planets biodiversity has provided cures for many illnesses that affect mankind. Countless other cures are still waiting to be discovered! The dilemma is that a cure may only exist in a single population that may be restricted to a single mountain range or even canyon. As urban sprawl encroaches on more and more habitat we are losing local populations of flora and fauna at an alarming rate. Former Director-General of the World Health Oranization and former Prime Minister of Norway Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland summarized it best “The library of life is burning and we do not even know the titles of the books.” Simply put, we are losing our resources before we even know they exist! Currently venom has provided mankind with drugs that treat everything from heart attacks, strokes and sickle cell anemia, to high blood pressure, diabetes, and chronic pain.

To read more about Chip and his research project, "The yin yang world of venom," click here. You can also donate a few bucks. Who knows, the next venom cure could save your life!