Trick or treatment? Snails, Snakes, and Lizards in Medicine

Some of the world's scariest animals may hold the key to some amazing treatment breakthroughs for humans. Some have already been discovered. For instance, the Gila monster, a venomous lizard native to the southwest U.S. and northern Mexico, is able to go for long periods (months!) without eating, and is efficient at storing fat in its body. It turns out that its blood holds a peptide (exendin-4) that is similar to a peptide in humans that lowers blood sugar and stimulates insulin production. A medicine chemically derived from the Gila monster peptide, "Exenatide" is now available to treat diabetes (see the chart below).

Recent research by a chemist at George Mason University has focused on studying blood peptides from a Komodo dragon, also a venomous lizard. This animal has an incredible immunity to infection, even when its extremities are injured or completely lost in a habitat full of infectious bacteria. Such animals are worth studying -- because what makes them immune to infection could lead to new antibiotic possibilities for humans, too.

Here is a compilation of some "creepy-crawlies" and what their "treats" are.

Sources: Zoltan Takacs Exploration: "Nature-to-Medicine: Deadliest Lifesavers." Dr. Zoltan Takacs is a University of Chicago scientist-explorer, co-inventor of "Designer Toxins" technology and also seen on National Geographic Live and other video programming. Also: FDA approval information, Vivostat web site, AskaPatient reviews, Washington Post, and Blaze Bioscience.