Latest news with #venom
Times
13-07-2025
- Health
- Times
Snakebites kill 130,000 people a year. This UK lab may have the answer
The snake was clearly unhappy. The terciopelo — a species known in its native Latin America as 'the ultimate pit viper' for its aggression and the potency of its venom — darted across the floor of the lab, the tip of its tail rattling as it looked for someone to take out its anger on. 'This one is a big mean old girl,' said Edd Crittenden, a senior animal technician at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine's Centre for Snakebite Research and Interventions, as he prepared to trap her to extract her venom. 'She has quite an attitude — she doesn't like us some days.' A bite from this angry snake — 5ft long, with vivid yellow and black markings — has the potential to trigger internal bleeding and cause tissue to wither and die. If untreated, it can be fatal. More than two million people are bitten by venomous snakes around the world each year, and as many as 138,000 die as a result. The 25 researchers working at the Liverpool snakebite centre, which holds one of the largest collections of tropical venomous snakes in Europe, is aiming to develop new treatments. And they are close to a breakthrough. Next summer they will start trialling two pills for snakebite victims in Ghana and Brazil. The new approach could have a radical impact on snakebite mortality. Currently the only treatment for a bite from a venomous snake is an antivenom — a medicine produced by extracting antibodies from the blood of sheep or horses that have been repeatedly dosed with snake venom. But that approach, which dates to the 19th century, is riddled with problems. 'Snake venoms vary from one species to the next,' said Nick Casewell, director of the centre. 'Each antivenom works only against certain snakes, and some of them are actually very poor. Even if they work, they have to be given in a major hospital, because they are given intravenously, via a drip, and people often have adverse reactions to them, so you want to be able to carefully monitor them. But in rural Africa or Asia or the Amazon rainforest, those kinds of facilities are often many hours or even days away. 'So what we're trying to do is develop an oral medication that can be given in the community soon after a bite. It doesn't need to be stored in a fridge like antivenom. And it can be given by anyone: you don't need any specialist training to give a pill.' Eventually, tourists may be able to carry the pills if travelling in risky areas. Even in Britain, where snakes are often kept as pets, dangerous snakebites occur. Some 300 people, 72 of them children, were bitten by exotic snakes between 2009 and 2020, according to reports to the UK National Poisons Information Service. Antivenom was given in 17 cases, and one person died. Deaths from native British snakes are far rarer — the last recorded death from an adder was in 1975. Casewell's team has already carried out a phase 1 trial of one new snakebite treatment, a pill called unithiol, showing that it was safe on healthy patients in Kenya. Next year they will start a phase 2 trial on patients who have been bitten by snakes, alongside another treatment called marimastat. About 200 people will take part in the trial across Ghana and Brazil. Both medicines were initially developed for other purposes — unithiol to treat poisoning from mercury, arsenic and lead, and marimastat to treat cancer. They both work by reducing the impact of metalloproteinases — a type of enzyme which is active in metal poisoning, some forms of cancer and also, the team discovered, in snake venom. 'We realised these are a really important component,' said Casewell. 'Terciopelo, the Malayan pit viper, saw-scaled vipers, Russell's viper — they all have a lot of metalloproteinases in their venom. Our drugs are targeting that toxin family.' He added: 'Our long-term vision is that we would have one pill to deal with some of the toxins and another to deal with some other toxins. And then it doesn't matter so much which snake you're being bitten by, you should be able to delay pathology. We're hoping those drugs will at the very least reduce the severity of envenoming, and buy that patient a lot more time to get secondary treatment.' David Lalloo, vice-chancellor of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and a world-leading snakebite expert, said: 'Oral treatments would be a game changer — there's no doubt at all.' But he said a deeper problem is that snakebites have been ignored as a medical problem. 'The response globally has not been anywhere near as extensive or urgent as it needs to be.' As co-chair of a new Global Snakebite Taskforce, a group of doctors, scientists and world leaders formed at the World Health Assembly in Geneva in May, he is trying to raise political awareness and investment. Until then, the researchers in Liverpool need more venom to test — which is why Crittenden was in the lab trying to trap the angry terciopelo. He had already extracted the venom from a pair of Malayan pit vipers and then a Mozambique spitting cobra — for which he wore a face shield, for fear of its 10ft spitting range. The furious terciopelo posed a different challenge. Using a long-handled tool, a band of rubber stretched across two prongs, Crittenden pinned the snake against the floor and reached down, grasping it just behind its jaws. It bared its fangs, trying to whip its head around to bite his wrist, but his grip stopped the movement. Together with his colleague Paul Rowley, who secured the tail, they carried the snake to a beaker with a silicone lid. The viper — which was donated to the centre by a pet shop in Bristol — bit down through the silicone, yellowish venom dripping into the glass. Crittenden and Paul Rowley trap the angry terciopelo SUNDAY TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JAMES GLOSSOP 'What I find really interesting is venom's biological variability,' said Casewell, as Crittenden labelled the beaker to store away. 'You're bitten by one snake and you might bleed. You're bitten by another snake, you might have a breathing paralysis. You're bitten by another snake, you might have none of those and just some really severe local tissue damage. 'Now we're able to apply the knowledge gained to hopefully make a real impact on people who are bitten by snakes.'
The Independent
24-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
The garden-variety slugs and snails we didn't know were venomous
Scientists are proposing a new, broader definition of venom, moving beyond the traditional understanding of bites from snakes and spiders. A paper published in journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution, and led by the Natural History Museum 's venom expert Dr Ronald Jenner, redefines venom as any internally delivered secretion used by one organism to physiologically manipulate another against its interests. This new definition classifies tens of thousands of additional species as venomous, including common garden snails, slugs, aphids, and various insects. Examples include insects injecting toxins into plants to disable defences, mosquitoes suppressing immune systems for blood meals, and slugs and snails injecting toxins into potential partners during sexual courtship. Researchers hope this redefinition will foster interdisciplinary collaboration and enhance the understanding of venom biology as a widespread evolutionary strategy.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Garden slugs and snails could now be considered venomous, study finds
Common garden snails and slugs could now be considered venomous, according to scientists. In a study that shakes up the definition of venom, researchers explain it is not just the bites of snakes and spiders that are classed as venomous, but also the saliva of aphids and the chemicals released by slugs. This change in definition will mean that tens of thousands of additional species could now be considered venomous. According to the research, published in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution, substances like saliva all function with the same evolutionary function in mind: to manipulate another organism's body against its interests. The paper, led by the Natural History Museum's venom expert Dr Ronald Jenner, argues that venom should be redefined as any internally delivered secretion that one organism uses to make a physiological change in another living organism. This means that insects such as cicadas, aphids and shield bugs - which suck the sap of plants and inject toxic secretions to disable plant defences - and garden snails and slugs, which use toxins to manipulate their sexual mates, join the ranks of snakes and scorpions that use venom on prey. Dr Jenner said: 'This redefinition helps us understand venom not as a narrow weapon, but as a widespread evolutionary strategy. 'If you look at what the proboscis of a mosquito does when it's in your skin, it injects toxins that suppress the immune system so that the animal can safely take a blood meal without being swatted away. On a molecular level it shows a lot of similarities to what happens when a viper bites, say, a bunny. 'Conceptually they work on exactly the same system: a conflict arena between two organisms that is mediated by injected toxins. And that's venom.' Researchers also found the venom in wasps, bees and ants, as well as bugs and aphids, were originally used on plants rather than animals. Slugs and snails also inject potential partners with toxins during sexual courtship. Examples range from snails that shoot love-darts coated with bioactive molecules to manipulate their partners against their interest, to male blowflies whose barbed phallus injects a secretion that prevents females from mating again. These sexual secretions, the researchers argue, also fit their definition of venom because substances are internally delivered to manipulate the recipient in a conflict of evolutionary interests. The authors hope this redefinition could mean that scientists from traditionally separate fields can combine forces to accelerate understanding of venom biology.
The Independent
23-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Garden slugs and snails could now be considered venomous, study finds
Common garden snails and slugs could now be considered venomous, according to scientists. In a study that shakes up the definition of venom, researchers explain it is not just the bites of snakes and spiders that are classed as venomous, but also the saliva of aphids and the chemicals released by slugs. This change in definition will mean that tens of thousands of additional species could now be considered venomous. According to the research, published in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution, substances like saliva all function with the same evolutionary function in mind: to manipulate another organism's body against its interests. The paper, led by the Natural History Museum 's venom expert Dr Ronald Jenner, argues that venom should be redefined as any internally delivered secretion that one organism uses to make a physiological change in another living organism. This means that insects such as cicadas, aphids and shield bugs - which suck the sap of plants and inject toxic secretions to disable plant defences - and garden snails and slugs, which use toxins to manipulate their sexual mates, join the ranks of snakes and scorpions that use venom on prey. Dr Jenner said: 'This redefinition helps us understand venom not as a narrow weapon, but as a widespread evolutionary strategy. 'If you look at what the proboscis of a mosquito does when it's in your skin, it injects toxins that suppress the immune system so that the animal can safely take a blood meal without being swatted away. On a molecular level it shows a lot of similarities to what happens when a viper bites, say, a bunny. 'Conceptually they work on exactly the same system: a conflict arena between two organisms that is mediated by injected toxins. And that's venom.' Researchers also found the venom in wasps, bees and ants, as well as bugs and aphids, were originally used on plants rather than animals. Slugs and snails also inject potential partners with toxins during sexual courtship. Examples range from snails that shoot love-darts coated with bioactive molecules to manipulate their partners against their interest, to male blowflies whose barbed phallus injects a secretion that prevents females from mating again. These sexual secretions, the researchers argue, also fit their definition of venom because substances are internally delivered to manipulate the recipient in a conflict of evolutionary interests. The authors hope this redefinition could mean that scientists from traditionally separate fields can combine forces to accelerate understanding of venom biology.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'Shocking' find after 200-year-old bluebottle jellyfish theory investigated
For 200 years, there has been speculation that swimmers could be tormented by more than one species of bluebottle jellyfish. It turns out there are at least four, including one in Australia that has a 'prominent nose'. Until recently, studying these notorious jellyfish has been a challenge because they're hard to keep in captivity, and when they wash up on the beach they disintegrate quickly. Griffith University marine ecologist Professor Kylie Pitt explained the game-changer has been advances in DNA sequencing. 'With our paper, we used the most powerful method, whole genome sequencing, so it's entire DNA has been sampled,' she said. 'By combining the DNA with morphology, we've got the strongest evidence possible for separating out the species.' Pitt was part of an international research effort by Yale University, University of New South Wales and Griffith University that sequenced the genomes of 151 jellyfish from around the world and published their findings in the journal Current Biology. She describes feeling 'shocked' by the result of the study. A key finding was that the notorious Portuguese man o' war is only found in the Atlantic and is a completely separate species from Australian bluebottles. 'For a long time, people have said they're much bigger over there and the venom is much more potent,' Pitt said. 'Now we know that the potency of their venom might differ.' Related: 😳 Swimmer's painful encounter with deadly creature on Queensland island The existence of three newly described species, Physalia physalis, Physalia utriculus and Physalia megalista, had been proposed in the 18th and 19th Centuries, but the idea was later dismissed. The researchers also identified a fourth species Physalia minuta that had never been described before. 'The one that really stands out is Physalia megalista because it has a really pronounced nose,' Pitt said. It's also believed there are several distinct subpopulations shaped by regional winds and ocean currents. This new knowledge about bluebottles will have a real-world impact for swimmers, as there could be differences with the venom of Australian species too. It will also help support an investigation into jellyfish behaviour that's funded by the Australian Research Council. 🌏 Secret hidden beneath Australia's 'most important' parcel of land 👙 Tourists oblivious to disturbing scene 500m off sunny Aussie beach 📸 Confronting picture showcases state of Aussie wildlife on world stage Pitt explained a PhD student is working to understand how winds and currents move the bluebottles towards beaches, as well as how they move in the water. 'Bluebottles can actually erect their float or lay it down, depending upon what the wind conditions are. And they can also expand and or extend and contract their tentacles, which might act a little bit like a sea anchor, so there might be a bit more of a drag,' she said. 'Now we know there are at least three species in Australia she may need to look at their behavioural differences.' Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
