Snake Spills Venomous Secrets

“Snake Spills Venomous Secrets”

            In the article “Snake Spills Venomous Secrets” by Doctor David Julius who led the research team at the University of California, San Francisco, Julius shares his team’s discoveries on how snake venom is made of two proteins that act like an acid would by attaching to nerve cells and creating an acid-burn sensation. The new research found could help drug companies to design medication that could combat the immense pain. The venom of the Texas coral snake includes a deadly concoction of chemicals that have two special proteins that fuse together and travel onto tiny detectors on human nerve endings and refuse to let go. These detectors usually sense acid burn, and after the snake bites, the victim’s brain collects brutal signals of an acid-like burn. In their study, Julius’ graduate student Christopher Bohlen looked at venom taken from various snakes. By depicting neurons in Petri dishes to the different venoms, Bohlen discovered that venom from the Texas coral snake goes after a receptor protein found on nerve endings all over the human body that are sensitive to acid. The snake venom was found to target a human protein depicted as the acid-sensing ion channel 1(ASIC1). The field has focused on a similar receptor called ASIC3 for years of work and now the work on the Texas coral snake has suggested for the very first time that ASIC1 may be a reliable target for painkillers.

Natures of Science:

·         Science is Collaborative: Doctor David Julius worked with an entire research team at the University of California, San Francisco, to decipher what channels of the human body would be smart to target for painkiller researchers.

·         Importance of Repeatability: Julius’ graduate student Christopher Bohlen looked at venom taken from various snakes. Bohlen took venom from numerous Texas coral snakes to make sure that the results were fully accurate.

·         Science is based on Evidence: Julius’ graduate student Christopher Bohlen found concrete evidence that venom from the Texas coral snake goes after a receptor protein found on nerve endings all over the human body that are sensitive to acids. He found this evidence by depicting neurons in Petri dishes to different venoms.

Readers: Do you think that scientists could possibly do something to all snakes to stop them from having venom that is so painful to the human body?

            I chose to read this article Texas coral snake venom because it sounded really fascinating to me and I have always wondered what makes venom so painful to humans. It was really interesting to hear about the two proteins found in venom that create an acid-burn pain to nerve cells in the human body. I have also always wondered what kind of pain venom causes because I have never experienced it and this article explained it thoroughly! I am grateful I got the chance to read this article because it taught me a lot about how snake venom works and what scientists are trying to create to prevent the pain if someone were to get bit.

Link: http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2011/11/17/snake_spills_venomous_secrets.html