(credit: CBS) Posted on 02/19/2020 6:54:38 AM PST by Red Badger
GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4) – A team of scientists at the University of Northern Colorado believe venom from venomous snakes could carry the cure to cancer. Dr. Stephen Mackessy, professor at UNC’s School of Biology, says studies show venoms in different snakes can attack human cancer cells in unique ways.
(credit: CBS)
To conduct the study, Mackessy’s students are given access to hundreds of snakes from around the world, all of which are stored in a secured facility on the campus of UNC. From rattlesnakes to vipers, the students are able to extract venom from each snake to study the compounds and proteins.
“These are compounds that have evolved to kill other animals, and kill things … in general, wreak havoc with living systems,” Mackessy told CBS4’s Dillon Thomas. “It turns out they are actually a very logical place to look for therapeutics.”
Mackessy said that when sharing his studies with the public, many times people automatically think of the dangers venomous snakes come with. However, most don’t consider the benefits the reptiles can offer to humans.
“People tend to have a visceral reaction to snakes in general,” Mackessy said.
(credit: CBS)
Snake venoms have been used since the 1950s to treat things like high blood pressure in millions of people around the globe. However, Mackessy said his lab is one of the first to research the possible uses of venom compounds to battle various forms of cancer.
“When you think about looking for a therapeutic drug, you don’t turn first to something like a venom or toxin as a source,” Mackessy said.
PhD candidate Tanner Harvey has specifically been researching viper venoms, some of which come from habitats as close as southern Arizona. Each venom, in different doses, reacts to cancers uniquely.
“(One viper venom) kills breast cancer really quickly at low doses. And, it kills colon cancer at low doses. But, it doesn’t kill melanoma,” Harvey said.
However, other venoms strongly react to melanoma.
Killing the cancer with venom isn’t hard. It’s not killing the patient at the same time that’s the challenge. The team at UNC said their challenge is finding which compounds can be combined with other remedies to kill cancer efficiently, while preserving other life-dependent cells.
“(Finding the proper doses and mixes) is just like panning for gold,” Harvey said.
The study is still in preliminary phases. Once the team feels they have a solid answer to which venom compounds are safe to battle cancer with, the research would press on to one day potentially meet clinical studies.
When asked if students at UNC were capable of finding the cure to cancers, Mackessy said they were well on their way toward that direction.
“There is no question they have the ability to make that kind of contribution,” Mackessy said.
While Mackessy’s team is working toward the goal of curing cancers, another takeaway from their research was also offered. Both Mackessy and Harvey hope their research will encourage the public to stop senselessly killing snakes simply out of fear. While both said they understood human instinct to fear a snake’s ability to take life, they hoped the public would ultimately come to value the snake’s ability to preserve life at the same time.
“You never really know what is going to come from a natural source, even something like a rattlesnake,” Mackessy said. “It may be, in fact, that these dangerous animals house in their venom something that one day may be lifesaving for you, or your family members.”
2 Kings 18:4 NIV
Hezekiah Destroys Idolatry in Judah
…3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.
4 He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze serpent called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.
5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.…
All chemotherapy meds are poisonous. Chemotherapy relies on finding meds which are more poisonous to cancer cells than to normal cells.
So venomous snakes are our friends?
One never knows.
When I was a physician in the Medical Corps of the US Army stationed in Europe, I had a patient from Transylvania with hemochromotosis. This is a metabolic disorder in which the body does not process iron effectively and deposits of iron accumulate in the body's tissues to a toxic level. The treatment is phlebotomy, i.e. the removal of blood, which contains the iron-rich erythrocytes, at regular intervals. His being from Transylvania caused me to reassess my opinion of Count Dracula. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. One must always remain open-minded.
Most of the time, yes..............
Used to work with a guy that had that................
Yes. Some diseases that were universally fatal when I was a medical student are now curable. Childhood leukemia is one.
I have worn out my knees praying for a cure to so many diseases--notably childhood leukemia.
Every time I learn of a cure for another one of these horrible diseases, I thank God for yet another miracle.
God intervenes in our lives. Eternal gratitude is mankind's rightful state.
“Here Mikey, you milk it.”
Perhaps it will even cure neuropathy which has 30 million victims in the US alone. Presently, the treatment is merely snakeoil (no pun intended) and it is not covered by Medicare. Let’s see if it also cures baldness.
If you’re a RAT, you can provide the venom.
Well said! I had similar thoughts.
Not sure what your point is. Yes, the Children of Israel sinfully worshiped everything crafted by Man - idolatry, even wanted to worship Moses’ bones - why God personally buried him.
But as Jesus said - “As Moses lifted up the serpent, so will the Son of Man be lifted up”. God commanded him so they would be healed and live. What they did after was an abomination.
Numbers 21:8 (NIV):
The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”
My point of saying this was often times God puts in His Word the direct thing/meaning and yet, to His Wisdom, He foreshadows or speaks of things still yet hidden to prideful men. I.e., snake venom to cure cancer, it was purely a pondering thought, that’s all.
No particular point intended.
But the brass/bronze serpent Moses made was a foreshadowing of the crucifixion......................
Yep, and the Caduceus is used as the symbol of medicine today. Lots of Army medics have one tattooed on their arm.
Agreed. I mentioned that.
The serpent itself seems to have some historical controversy as to whether it was made of brass or bronze. Not a lot of difference, brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper and tin, but sometimes other metals as well.......
Well, a mamba bite is 100% effective at killing every type of cancer.
A few years back at a Rural Trauma confrence I attend annually there was a presentation on three case studies of outback trauma (this in in Montana).
Case 1) A 70 year old woman was with her husband on their anniversary (insert photo taken that day here). She was gored in the neck by an elk and the story was how she was evacuated and triaged.
Case 2) A man was in the woods and attacked by a grizzly, a grizzly that literally removed his face. The story was the flight doctor discussing wether to leave the wrappings of the paramedics in place or unwrap and fix/rewrap. Rewrap.
Case 3) A dude was fishing and when heading to his car he saw a young rattle snake. He put it in his cooler to show it to his son when he got home. On his way home he decided to reach behind the seat and grab a can of beer. The story was how to treat snake bite.
Only #3 was a fatal.
Yep, drinking and driving can be fatal....................
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