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<\/figure>\n\n\nDesigning effective antivenom isn\u2019t the only thing venomics is good for. In recent years, scientists have begun to explore its potential to create medicines that treat everything from cancer to high blood pressure, chronic pain and more.<\/p>\n
The promise of venom-as-medicine: from ancient Greece to 2020
Over 2,000 years ago, the historian Appian of Alexandria reported that upon receiving a sword wound to the leg, Scythian doctors saved his life with \u201ca small amount of steppe viper venom\u201d that they used to stop the bleeding. Snake venom has been used in Ayurvedic medicine since the 7th century BCE to treat arthritis and gastrointestinal ailments, while tarantulas are used in the traditional medicine of indigenous populations of Mexico and Central and South America.<\/p>\n
Modern medicine, however, has struggled to make use of these toxins. Even though 15% of the world\u2019s animal population produces venom of some kind, only six drugs derived from venom are approved for use by the FDA.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, that\u2019s beginning to change. Historically, studying the potential uses of venom was difficult because they contain such a sophisticated cocktail of components, which are often difficult and dangerous to extract \u2013 but now, as Medical News Today explains, \u201cadvances in omics \u2014 the identification and quantification of biological molecules that make up an organism \u2014 are providing deeper insight.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, with much of the DNA and RNA of the venom already identified, researchers can more easily \u201csynthesize its components and test out its theories.\u201d<\/p>\n
A 2018 paper highlighted, for instance, the potential for the deathstalker scorpion to help call attention to tumor cells before surgery to ensure all cancerous tissue is removed; for sea anemones\u2019 peptides to help treat autoimmune diseases; and for a species of venomous sea snails to provide non-addictive chronic pain relief.<\/p>\n
As Mand\u00eb Holford, the lead author of the study, put it: \u201cI like to describe venom as a cluster bomb. Its job is to shut down the normal function of the prey and in doing so, it fans out (and) hits several targets, which is a great thing for pharmaceutical development because you have several avenues to explore.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the budding potential of venomics remains to be wholly realized, it\u2019s clear that such research will continue to play a vital role in medicine \u2013 be it in developing effective, broad-coverage antivenoms, or a range of new life-saving medicines.<\/p>\n
HOW ANTIVENOM WORKS<\/p>\n
Watch this video to learn how antivenom works and why we have selected the four species of snake used in our process.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We\u2019re sometimes asked: How can one antivenom effectively treat bites from several types of venomous snakes? The answer, in short, is venomics, the scientific analysis of venom. Venom is a notoriously complex and ever-evolving mix of bioactive proteins and peptides. The science of \u201cvenomics\u201d aims to better understand the composition of venom using techniques such […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1293,"template":"","subjects":[98,96,97],"class_list":["post-1273","insights","type-insights","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","subjects-research","subjects-snake-envenomation","subjects-venom"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n