How Snakes Develop Venom Inside Their Body
An analysis of twenty-four different toxins indicates that when the snakes developed the poison, they used proteins from all over their body. Surprisingly, they transform harmless proteins into lethal venom.
This enigma attracted the attention of Bryan Fry, of the Australian Poison Research Unit at the University of Melbourne in Parkville, Victoria, who did a genetic analysis of 24 types of snake toxins.
As part of the research, Fry compared the amino acid sequences of toxins with those of proteins in the brain, heart, liver, and other organs. Thus, he determined that 21 of the 24 poison proteins appeared to be linked to proteins from those parts of the body.
That underscores the tremendous diversity of toxins in snake venom," explains Wolgang Wuster of the University of Wales in Bangor, "and demonstrates that they come from the full range of organs in the animal.
Fry believes that a thorough examination of the molecular composition of toxins could help drug manufacturers work in reverse to understand how normal proteins work.
For now, he continues his research to understand how the snake venom glands started using proteins.
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