Venom

Today we answer questions from our listeners about venom!


What is Venom? 

Venomous vs Poisonous

Why does funnel web spider venom hurt humans and not dogs? 

Venom Immunity

Venom in Medicine

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Chapters

• 0:00 Venom
• 0:06 Intro

Transcript

Welcome everyone to another episode of 8 minutes of Eww! The place where we use curiosity and science to turn fear into fascination and those ewww’s into Oooo’s. Oh! By the way, I’m your host Ms. Mallory, the Curious Conservationist and self-proclaimed grosslologist. Let’s get started.

Intro

welcome back grossologists, in this eww-inspired episode, we’re going to talk about venom! And while he is a pretty cool character, I’m not talking about the popular Spider-Man villain who shares the same name,  but the powerful protein package that helps animals fight off predators, capture prey and even fight off the competition. But today we will be doing a different format, instead of me telling you what I love about venom, I will be answering some questions that our listeners sent in!  If you would like to submit questions for upcoming episodes, you can do so on the 8 MOE patreon account.  I wish I could answer all the questions, but this is a way for me to say thank you for those supporting this passion project, even just for a single month. But I love these types of episodes, so I am really excited to see what questions we got in. 

How is Venom Made? 

First question comes in from Oliver of McKinney, Tx.  

Oliver asks: How is venom made,  and does an animal have a never ending supply of it? 

Great question! As you can imagine, the world of venom is one that very few know about, so understanding how it’s made is a great place for us to start. Thanks, Oliver. 

Venom is produced by specialized glands that are often associated with piercing mechanisms located on an animal— so this can be a spine, fangs, and even tiny stingers like on a jellyfish.  An exception to this is the wide-eyed, snuggly-looking Slow Loris, which happens to be only venomous (I put that word in air quotes) primate.  They may look harmless, but a slow loris can pack a gnarly bite laced with venom powerful enough to rot flesh. Unlike a snake that has its venom glands attached to the syringe like fanges, the venom glands of the slow loris are found in their armpit.  When the nocturnal primate licks the gland, the toxic liquid mixes with saliva, turning the mammal’s mouth into a potentially lethal weapon.  But venom isn’t endless and does comes with a hefty price tag— a biological one. It takes a lot of energy to make and maintain venom. So if you were a snake and just randomly started biting people (which they don’t do and this example will proove why) it would quickly run out of its only means of eating and defending itself.  And let’s be honest, but venomous animals are pretty defensless without their venom.  Snakes are armless and legless with soft bodies, scorpions and spiders are tiny and can get squashed easily.  Their venom is precious and they don’t want to waste it on you when they can run away, but they will if they feel their life depends on it.  So moral of this story— if you come across a venomous animal, don’t ever approach it. Give it a chance to leave the area on its own. And if it won’t, call a professional.  Most bites occur when trying to kill or remove a cornered venomous animal.  Do you blame them, I would protect myself too if a massive giant was trying to cut my head off with a shovel. 

Poisonous or Venomous: The Same or Different? 

Okay next question comes from Sarah from Cleveland, Ohio. Poisonous vs Venomous, if there a difference? 

I just love his question! 

I am sure we have all heard someone say, “don’t touch that snake, it’s venomous!” or maybe “don’t touch that spider, it’s poisonous!” so which one is it? Poisonous or venomous? Perhaps both? Not usually, but sometimes. While both of these words are commonly used interchangeably, ‘venom’ and ‘poison’ aren’t exactly the same thing. The thing that sets them apart is the way the toxic substance is delivered to the unfortunate victim. 

Poison is swallowed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. Poisonous animals, like the poison dart frog, some salamanders, and lots of insects would leave a very bad, and even dangerous, taste in the mouth of their victims. These animals take the more passive-aggressive approach and generally won’t attack; but instead, release their toxins as a result of being eaten, touched, or disturbed. 

Venom, on the other hand, is actively injected through a bite or sting. A viper injects venom through syringe-like teeth. A jellyfish injects venom into skin using tiny venom-filled needles located on their tentacles whenever they're touched. Because venom isn’t necessarily dangerous when injested, the slow loris doesn’t get sick licking its own toxin or a leatherback can chow on a venomous jellyfish. 

But there are some animals have the best of both worlds, such as the blue-ringed octopus, which is both venomous and poisonous. While they are beautiful to look at, they can deliver a venomous bite with their beak, and also create quite the bad experience for anything that tries to eat one.

Great question, Sarah!

Venom Immune: 

Okay, next question is coming from my hometown, San Diego, California.  from Colter.  I was a watching a documentary and it said the venom of a funnel web spider is very dangerous to humans, but not dogs.  How can something much smaller not be affected by something that can be potentially deadly to a human?  

Oh man, talk about a bad experience, a bite from the male funnel web spider in Australia is no joke, the side effects include extreme pain, breathing problems, confusion, convulsions and dangerous changes in blood pressure. So why won’t little Fido experience the same reactions if bit.  It isn’t because of size, but science.  It turns out the toxin that makes funnel web spiders dangerous to humans and other primates doesn’t have the same response to other mammal group’s  DNA. And speaking of venom reactions, I can’t move on without mentions the impressive group of animals that are venom resistant. The bodies of hedgehogs, skunks, ground squirrels, muskrats, and domestic pigs have adapted to fight the effects of venom.  And Researchers think the opossum, a low-key nature hero that posseses a venom-neutralizing peptide in its blood, may hold the key to developing a universal antivenom. Go team opo!

But venom resistance is far more common in those who eat venomous animals than those who venomous animals regularly feed upon.

For instance, grasshopper mice snack on scorpions (the paralyzing bark scorpion being a fan favorite), Texas horned lizards hoard harvester ants, leatherbacks love jellyfish, and harmless kingsnakes feast on rattlesnakes.  It’s a major perk in the animal kingdom when you can eat the spicy stuff that everyone else avoids at the buffet. (haha) 

Venom in Medicine

Okay, moving on to our next question.  This one comes from the lovely Lexi from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hi Lexi. Her question is: I heard recently that rattlesnake venomous is being used as a possible cancer treatment. How can something that could possibly kill you be safe to inject as medicine.  Is this for real or just a rumor? 

Really great question. 

It’s for real, but before we get into that let’s do a little breakdown on venom. I think it will be really helpful when answering your main question. 

Just as no two types of animals are the same,  no two types of venom are the same. You see,  venom isn’t made up of just one single type of toxin, but unique blend of them. And each toxin has a specific . . um. . reaction its trying to create. Neurotoxins cause the nervous system to shut down or, conversely, to go into overdrive. Meanwhile, Cytotoxins eat away at muscle tissue. And then there’s hemotoxins that can cause the blood to clot or cause the blood not to clot. There are many other types besides these and while they all sound like bad news, it’s this incredible complexity and diversity that have researchers in the medical world studying them very closely. Because, you see, working as a team, toxins can become powerful weapons; but individually they can become powerful medicines. 

Getting its FDA approval in 1981, Captopril is known as the first venom-inspired medicine success story. It replicated a toxin found in a type of brazilian pit viper that quickly increased blood pressure after being bitten. When tweaked a little, it was became a life saving tool for those with low blood pressure But snake venom isn’t the only rockstar that this concert. Strangely enough the paralyzing cone snail venom has been transformed into an extreme pain-reliever. Gila Monster venom inspired a medicine for type two diabetes. The deathstalker scorpion’s potent venom contains a toxin called Chlorotoxin which is being developed to diagnose cancers and, possibly, treating tumors. Even the recently discovered Komodo Dragon venom that was once thought to be just a bad case of bacteria mouth is being looked for its anticoagulant properties. These toxins may have applications in treating strokes, heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms, all of which can stem from blood clots.

Outro

Well, my aspiring grossologists, sadly my 8 minutes is up.  How did you like this new format? I loved it. If you liked this episode and would like to hear more eww-inspired segments, check out the other episode line up on apple podcasts.  And if you feel this podcast is one you would like to see continue to grow, please consider becoming a patreon subscriber. You can ask questions, recommend episodes and be the first to listen to new episodes.  Thanks again for joining me and set those notifications so you don’t miss the next 8 minutes of Eww.