Who cares about toxins?

Atheris matildae

Ever since humans made the link between interactions with toxic creatures and illness or death, both a fascination and fear of these animals developed. Both venomous and poisonous found in toxic creatures have long been used to give an evolutionary advantage and play a vital role in prey capture, immobilization and defence. As the species evolved so did the toxins they use providing an immense library of active proteins (Fox and Serrano, 2007).

Ranitomeya variablis

Toxins of all kinds have been a focal point of much research within the last 70 years, we have gained a lot of knowledge on how these toxins cause the effects they do on their prey or attackers (Fox and Serrano, 2007). These dramatic and highly specific effects led to the investigation of using these protein cocktails for therapeutic uses (Fox and Serrano, 2007). Despite this it has only become prevalent in the past two decades to mine these biological wonders for treatment, detection, diagnosis and research on an ever growing and seemingly endless list of diseases. While very much a developing field treatments for Hypertension, angina, coronary angioplasty, chronic pain, diabetes and many forms of cancer have been created and are currently being used globally (Takacs and Nathan, 2014). With an estimated 20 million toxins remaining unexplored these will no doubt produce many more (Takacs and Nathan, 2014). This extensive assemblage will be a major source of novel therapeutics in the years to come (Takacs and Nathan, 2014).

Maybe those who allow hate to cloud their vision of these creatures will one day see the benefit of their existence, not only their sheer biological elegance, efficiency and beauty but also in their medicinal benefits to all.

References
Fox, J.W. and Serrano, S.M., 2007. Approaching the Golden Age of Natural Product Pharmaceuticals from Venom Libraries: An Overview of Toxins and Toxin-Derivatives Currently Involved in Therapeutic or Diagnostic Applications. Current Pharmaceutical Design, Vol:13, No:28, pp.2927-2934.
Takacs, Z., Nathan, S., 2014. Animal Venoms in Medicine. In: Wexler, P. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Toxicology, 3rd edition vol 1. Elsevier Inc., Academic Press, pp. 252-259.
Images
Ranitomeya variablis: https://www.flickr.com/photos/reptiles4all/14002572367/in/photolist-kGJBVB-prYMqt-pHUdZR-gmkwk6-kdcZhz-pqEcKP-rqpEkd-hFm8jU-uwcFQk-quhfDR-prsT4M-q1DjjH-8RiiWU-8SmGSj-qTELsq-qXmmTJ-qkN961-nkmQVv-oPjuA9-99CajC/
Atheris matildae: https://www.flickr.com/photos/reptiles4all/15570371547/in/photolist-kGJBVB-prYMqt-pHUdZR-gmkwk6-kdcZhz-pqEcKP-rqpEkd-hFm8jU-uwcFQk-quhfDR-prsT4M-q1DjjH-8RiiWU-8SmGSj-qTELsq-qXmmTJ-qkN961-nkmQVv-oPjuA9-99CajC