venom

10 Stories

Key to Saving Lives From Snakebites Could Be a Pill

Matthew Lewin hopes varespladib, currently in clinical trials via Ophirex, will help buy victims time

(Newser) - According to World Health Organization stats, nearly 140,000 people die annually around the globe from venomous snakebites, with most of them succumbing to the snake's venom before they can get emergency assistance. A California doctor hopes his idea will stymie the Grim Reaper in many of those cases,...

Doctor Pulls Brown Recluse From a Woman's Ear

Spider moved in but didn't bite

(Newser) - That swishing sound in Susie Torres' ear sounded like water. Maybe it was caused by a recent allergy shot, she thought. The slight pain didn't let up, so she decided to have her ear examined after work. A medical assistant had one look and went for help, KSHB reports....

Most Venomous Creature on Earth Now a Bit Less Scary

Researchers say they've found an antidote for box jellyfish stings

(Newser) - The world’s most venomous creature is not a snake but a jellyfish, and researchers say they have found an antidote for its lethal sting. The Australian box jellyfish has roughly 60 tentacles that can stretch up to 10 feet in length and are studded with microscopic hooks containing venom....

How the Tiger Snake's Venom Beat Evolution

Australian tiger snake venom hasn't changed in 10M years

(Newser) - With its exceedingly deadly venom unchanged over the past 10 million years, the Australian tiger snake has essentially defeated evolution. Researcher Bryan Fry says in a press release it's "really unusual" for venom to remain unchanged over such a long period of time. Typically, predators and prey evolve...

Spider Venom Could Stave Off Brain Damage From Stroke
Scientists Find Potential
New Use for Spider Venom
new study
Mar 21, 2017 11:17 AM CDT

Scientists Find Potential New Use for Spider Venom

Poison from funnel web spider reduced brain damage in rats after strokes

(Newser) - Almost 6 million people die from a stroke each year, and although scientists aren't recommending spider bites to remedy that, the poison contained in one particular arachnid may fend off stroke-related brain damage, the Guardian reports. In a study published in the PNAS journal , Australian scientists discovered that just...

A Painkiller Made From the 'Killer of Killers'?
Beautiful 'Freak'
Snake May Ease
Your Pain One Day
NEW STUDY
Oct 31, 2016 9:49 AM CDT

Beautiful 'Freak' Snake May Ease Your Pain One Day

If scientists can harness the power of the long-glanded blue coral snake's venom

(Newser) - Ibuprofen for your splitting headache, or venom from the "killer of killers"? Scientists say that poison from one of the rarest, most "beautiful" snakes in the world—a creature that devours king cobras for breakfast and boasts "freaky" long venom glands that run a quarter of...

Snail Eats Fish After Drugging Them

Cone snail's toxin could teach us a thing or two

(Newser) - It may be small and slow, but the geographic cone snail packs a wallop. The creature eats fish after paralyzing them with a toxin, researchers find. When its prey swims by, it sends out a poisonous cloud that's packed with enough insulin to make the fish's blood sugar...

What Makes Black Widows So Deadly


 What Makes 
 Black Widows 
 So Deadly 
study says
Jan 10, 2015 4:30 PM CST

What Makes Black Widows So Deadly

They evolved quickly with same venom compounds as house spiders

(Newser) - Black widow spiders are known for their lethal venom, but just how did they get so deadly? Apparently by evolving quickly over the years during their pursuit of "ever-bigger prey," Discovery reports. According to a new study, black widows and house spiders have comparable toxic compounds in their...

Newly Created Drug Has 100 Times Morphine's Power

It's still in experimental stage, and makes use of snail venom

(Newser) - Move over, morphine. Someday, we may be turning to carnivorous snails for our pain-killing needs, a study suggests. Australian researchers have found that a drug made using venom from ocean-dwelling cone snails may be 100 times as powerful as top painkillers morphine and gabapentin, which are currently used to ease...

Stung by a Scorpion? Mexico Will Save You

Despite 250 stings a year, US drug companies won't make anti-venom

(Newser) - With the United States having run out of scorpion anti-venom nearly 10 years ago, the FDA has just approved a Mexican-made treatment for scorpion stings, reports NPR . Although there are about 250 severe scorpion stings a year in the United States—mainly in the "Venom Belt" in the southwest—...

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