Platypus venom how to#
Platypus venom code#

This compound is a modified version of the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is naturally secreted in the gut and stimulates the release of insulin. People who have diabetes are sometimes prescribed a drug called exenatide. Frank Grutzner, from the University of Adelaide in Australia - is now looking at novel ways to use this knowledge to help treat diabetes. One of the researchers involved in that project - Prof. While in the US, Whittington will also study shrew venom, which she says has already been patented by others for anti-wrinkle, analgesic and treatment for nerve disorders.In 2008, researchers first sequenced the platypus genome. 'So instead of taking a lot of venom samples from a large number of animals we can just take the venom gland from one animal to identify the components.' 'The RNA allows us to take a sample of venom gland tissue from one animal and amplify it and then sequence it from that,' she says.

Platypus venom code#

Whittington will amplify small amounts of RNA from the venom, and then sequence this to work out the proteins they code for. 'We were fortunate enough to opportunistically collect an animal that was hit by a car in Tasmania,' she says. Whittington says her team was lucky to have found a dead male platypus on the side of the road. Whittington says it is very difficult to obtain platypus venom because it's only produced in small quantities during the breeding season, and the animals are very hard to catch.Įven obtaining venom from captive animals is difficult since keepers often don't want to disturb the animals during breeding season. Later this year Whittington will begin a year-long research project analysing the venom at Washington University in St. She says studies suggest there may be 50 compounds in platypus venom and her job is now to identify them all so they can then be tested further. 'We think it's an example of convergent evolution,' says Whittington. Interestingly, she says, available evidence suggests similar proteins have evolved twice, being found in both reptiles and platypus.

Whittington says, so far only three components of platypus venom have been identified, including peptides related to antimicrobial peptides and nerve growth factors.

Platypus venom how to#

'If we can work out what causes the pain, we can start to understand how it does that and then maybe work out how to block it.'īut, she says, before that can happen a lot of basic research needs to be done. 'We know morphine doesn't relieve the pain of envenomation so we're thinking there may be new pain pathways that are involved in causing the pain - ones that we haven't discovered yet,' she says She says the venom causes extreme long-lasting pain and swelling that can be tricky to treat.

Whittington says the venom is injected by the male platypus, which has sharp spurs on each hind leg that can spring into action when the animal is attacked. The platypus is one of only five mammals that produce venom. Venom from snakes have already yielded treatments for heart and blood problems, but very little is known about venom from mammals. 'Once we know which one causes pain, then people can start to work to understand how it does that and then develop novel pain killers,' says Whittington, a PhD student at the University of Sydney. Molecular biologist Camilla Whittington has been granted a Fulbright Scholarship to analyse the components of the venom, which can cause severe pain. Funnel webs reduce insecticide need, Science Online, Ī dead platypus found on a road is yielding venom that may one day help scientists design new pain killers.Venom common, predates snake evolution, Science Online,.Platypus genome reveals much about sex, Science Online,.