So he and his colleagues in Utah investigated further, designing new venom-human hybrid insulins, and have been studying how they work. Giving a fish a big dose of insulin causes its blood sugar to plummet, making it harder for the fish to escape the hungry snail.Ĭhemical biologist Danny Chou, PhD, was working at the University of Utah in 2014 when marine biologists there discovered the "venom insulins." He wondered if the animal's odd feature might help solve insulin-dosing challenges in people. The venom, made mostly of neurotoxins, also includes some insulin-like molecules - the only known example in nature of an animal weaponizing this hormone. But insulin-like molecules from cone snail venom are inspiring bioengineers to design faster-acting alternatives, with the potential to free patients from the need for close tracking of everything they eat.Ĭone snails live in ocean shallows, where they hunt tiny sea creatures, such as worms, other snails, or small fish, using paralyzing venom. Insulin delivered under the skin acts quite slowly, meaning patients must calculate the carbohydrates in every snack or meal and give themselves insulin 20-30 minutes in advance. People with diabetes must plan each meal, snack and insulin dose, a major hassle that may one day be eliminated thanks to discoveries from venom of an unexpected undersea critter: the cone snail.ĭiabetics don't make enough insulin to move sugar from their blood into cells around the body thus, they need to inject the hormone or wear an insulin pump.
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