Once in a while, we have to stop and remind ourselves that that terrifying animal who would so much want to have you as lunch may also be the key to your salvation. Nature has produced a myriad of creatures of various forms and sizes and, apart from giving them freaky claws and fangs, also bestowed special qualities upon them and which humans have discovered how to take advantage of. Some of these are listed below:
#1
Cobra Venom May Stop HIV and Multiple Sclerosis:
Cobras...badasses of the animal kingdom. They are the worst things anyone wants to see and getting bitten by one of them is the second most unfortunate thing that can happen to anyone, right after getting hit by a comet (according to my list of unfortunate occurrences). Cobras are the devil. Did you know they spit venom at your eyes, the second worst place you can get snake venom? If you get enough of it in your system, get ready to enjoy pain,
necrosis and maybe even paralysis, as the toxins bind themselves to
neuromuscular junctions, blocking communication between the central
nervous system and your muscles. Because mercy is for the weak, and an
enemy deserves no mercy.
How could something so terrifying make life better?
Well, scientists think that part of what makes venom so nasty is that it suppresses the body's ability to fight back by hampering the immune system's normal healing process. So if you had a disease caused by an overactive immune system, a chemical that slows it down would help keep this in check.
This could work for diseases like HIV and Multiple sclerosis as they both destroy the immune system. Snake venom could, in theory, keep that self-destructive process in check, if only it wasn't, you know, incredibly toxic (because it's snake venom). Fortunately, a company has patented a process for removing the paralyzing part of the venom, and what's left hinders the development of multiple sclerosis in mice.
For HIV, the venom latches on to the same receptors as the HIV virus and therefore muscles the virus out of the way
#2
Crocodile Blood for MRSA and HIV:
Have you ever seen a crocodile die from wounds gotten while fighting other crocs or other animals despite living in a swamp? That's the same things scientists have been wondering and being scientists, they grabbed some unfortunate croc, stuck a syringe in his hide and drew blood for their experiments. They found out that while human blood could kill eight
of the 23 strains of bacteria they attacked it with, alligator blood
killed all 23, including antibiotic-resistant MRSA. It turns out the crocodile's whole immune system is organized
differently from ours. According to Australian scientist Adam Britton, "The crocodile has an immune system which attaches to bacteria and tears it apart and it explodes." These tests showed that a drug derived from crocodiles could be effective in curing most of the diseases that plague the human race
Later tests also showed it killed the HIV virus though a lot more tests have to be done, so don't start injecting yourself with crocodile blood.
#3
Vampire Bat Saliva To Cure Stroke:
Say vampire bats and Count Dracula comes to mind. Vampire bats don't actually suck blood. They bite and lick up the blood oozing from the wound. Though its a tiny wound, it bleeds for hours, though on a normal basis, the would should scab over in at most an hour. But it doesn't. And you bleed and bleed like a leaky faucet and keep wondering why you're still bleeding from such a tiny wound. The wound takes so long to stop bleeding because vampire bat spit contains a blood thinner that keeps the blood flowing.
So how does this help you?
The same features of vampire bat saliva that turns you into a borehole can also help save your life in the event that you suffer a stroke. Strokes are usually caused by a blood vessel getting blocked thereby blocking blood supply to the brain. If you get to a hospital, the doctors can administer a medicine to break up the clot as fast as possible, but only if it's been no longer than three hours since the symptoms started. At that point, there's still a chance they can dissolve the clot and protect the brain from further damage, but the medicine also has a 1-in-15 chance of causing bleeding to the brain, so maybe they save your motor functions but flood your brain with blood and kill you.
That's where vampire bat saliva comes in. A kind of protein has been found in vampire bat saliva that can bust clots for up to nine hours after the onset of a stroke. So bat saliva can be the difference between a healthy active life and a bed-ridden existence.
#4
Pit Viper Venom To Reduce High Blood Pressure:
Pit vipers are one of nature's silent assassins. Just like the Hitman video games, but a lot cooler and without the unnecessary baggage of weapons. Its fangs are like a hypodermic needle and can deliver a potent venom that can cause a lot of nasty things, including something called compartment syndrome. Compartment syndrome squeezes muscles into a dense space until it suffocates and dies.
Though this has nothing to do with this entry but we just wanted you to know just how nasty a bite from a pit viper can be. the victim collapses in a heap because of a sudden drop in blood pressure. The venom then causes causes the blood vessels to dilate and your insides to hemorrhage. In the 1960s, researchers discovered that the venom contains a protein
that blocks angiotensin-converting enzyme, or ACE which is the enzyme
that keeps your blood pressure at the right level. Block it and your
blood pressure falls; block it enough and you die. in the 1960s, researchers figured out why: The venom contains a protein
that blocks angiotensin-converting enzyme, or ACE. That's the enzyme
that keeps your blood pressure at the right level. Block it and your
blood pressure falls; block it enough and you die. So can a serum be created from pit viper venom to reduce blood pressure? That's exactly what the pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers
Squibb did in 1975. By the early '80s, people had access to a drug
that would reduce the blood pressure with its most common side effect being a cough.
#5
Bacteria Repellant Materials Designed From Shark Skin
Sharks, terror of the deep and man's number one enemy in the deep seas. They look at you with their beady brown eyes and you just know they yarn to take a bite out of you with their razor-sharp teeth. Though more people are killed by cows than by sharks every year, you still can't get rid of the shivers that creep down your spine when you view a shark even in an aquarium. This irrational fear of sharks have kept us from noticing something about them, noting sticks to their skin. Whales on the other hand usually have so many barnacles on their backs that they look like suits of armor. It turns out that a shark's skin has special denticles to repel everything from it. That's because their skin isn't skin skin, it's scales. Their skin are smooth when rubbed in one way and rough when rubbed in the oposite direction. That's because the scales are arranged in a diamond pattern that creates an air cushion when you rub them toward the tail, but go rough when you rub them toward the head. Scientists discovered that its unique texture makes it hard for the tiny organisms to attach themselves to it. Scientists were able to replicate the pattern and covered navy ships and submarines in it and it has helped in repelling algae. The pattern can also be used on the surface of hospital materials to prevent bacteria from growing on them because 99,000 Americans a year die from infections they got in hospitals.
#1
Cobra Venom May Stop HIV and Multiple Sclerosis:
How could something so terrifying make life better?
Well, scientists think that part of what makes venom so nasty is that it suppresses the body's ability to fight back by hampering the immune system's normal healing process. So if you had a disease caused by an overactive immune system, a chemical that slows it down would help keep this in check.
This could work for diseases like HIV and Multiple sclerosis as they both destroy the immune system. Snake venom could, in theory, keep that self-destructive process in check, if only it wasn't, you know, incredibly toxic (because it's snake venom). Fortunately, a company has patented a process for removing the paralyzing part of the venom, and what's left hinders the development of multiple sclerosis in mice.
For HIV, the venom latches on to the same receptors as the HIV virus and therefore muscles the virus out of the way
#2
Crocodile Blood for MRSA and HIV:
Later tests also showed it killed the HIV virus though a lot more tests have to be done, so don't start injecting yourself with crocodile blood.
#3
Vampire Bat Saliva To Cure Stroke:
Say vampire bats and Count Dracula comes to mind. Vampire bats don't actually suck blood. They bite and lick up the blood oozing from the wound. Though its a tiny wound, it bleeds for hours, though on a normal basis, the would should scab over in at most an hour. But it doesn't. And you bleed and bleed like a leaky faucet and keep wondering why you're still bleeding from such a tiny wound. The wound takes so long to stop bleeding because vampire bat spit contains a blood thinner that keeps the blood flowing.
So how does this help you?
The same features of vampire bat saliva that turns you into a borehole can also help save your life in the event that you suffer a stroke. Strokes are usually caused by a blood vessel getting blocked thereby blocking blood supply to the brain. If you get to a hospital, the doctors can administer a medicine to break up the clot as fast as possible, but only if it's been no longer than three hours since the symptoms started. At that point, there's still a chance they can dissolve the clot and protect the brain from further damage, but the medicine also has a 1-in-15 chance of causing bleeding to the brain, so maybe they save your motor functions but flood your brain with blood and kill you.
That's where vampire bat saliva comes in. A kind of protein has been found in vampire bat saliva that can bust clots for up to nine hours after the onset of a stroke. So bat saliva can be the difference between a healthy active life and a bed-ridden existence.
#4
Pit Viper Venom To Reduce High Blood Pressure:
#5
Bacteria Repellant Materials Designed From Shark Skin
Sharks, terror of the deep and man's number one enemy in the deep seas. They look at you with their beady brown eyes and you just know they yarn to take a bite out of you with their razor-sharp teeth. Though more people are killed by cows than by sharks every year, you still can't get rid of the shivers that creep down your spine when you view a shark even in an aquarium. This irrational fear of sharks have kept us from noticing something about them, noting sticks to their skin. Whales on the other hand usually have so many barnacles on their backs that they look like suits of armor. It turns out that a shark's skin has special denticles to repel everything from it. That's because their skin isn't skin skin, it's scales. Their skin are smooth when rubbed in one way and rough when rubbed in the oposite direction. That's because the scales are arranged in a diamond pattern that creates an air cushion when you rub them toward the tail, but go rough when you rub them toward the head. Scientists discovered that its unique texture makes it hard for the tiny organisms to attach themselves to it. Scientists were able to replicate the pattern and covered navy ships and submarines in it and it has helped in repelling algae. The pattern can also be used on the surface of hospital materials to prevent bacteria from growing on them because 99,000 Americans a year die from infections they got in hospitals.
Comments
Post a Comment