This is usually only possible with elapids like coral snakes who have to chew on their victims to get their venom in. In some cases, the victims are able to stop the venom before it is transmitted into the bloodstream. Remember that for venom to be fatal, it must be injected into the bloodstream. Next, the venom moves from the alveoli and through its injection-like fangs into the victim’s bloodstream. When a snake bites, its fangs break through the skin. After production, the venom is transferred to their venom glands called alveoli. Snakes’ venoms come from the back of their salivary glands located in the back of their heads. However, if you were to bite someone and they died, something in your bite was transferred into their blood and killed them, thus making you venomous.Īnother important and deciding factor to consider is what parts of the snake are venomous.If you were to eat something and die, you were poisoned.In fact, the researchers are currently setting up a large collection of venom gland organoids from 50 toxic reptilians, snakes and other venomous animals, together with reptilian expert Freek Vonk at Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands, to study these different kinds of venom in the lab.In simple terms, snakes inject their venom: In addition, growing reptilian organoids for the first time suggests that tissues from other vertebrate animals (such as lizards, or fish) could also be grown this way. Further studies are in progress to develop these applications in the future. Venom produced by the snake venom organoids could be used for antivenom production as well as for targeted development of new venom-based drugs. The findings of the researchers may have far-reaching consequences. In a collaborative effort, they showed that neurotoxins produced by the organoids are active and can block nerve firing in various cell systems, similar to the neurotoxins produced by the snakes themselves. In addition, the researchers found that changing the factors in the growth medium of the organoids could change the composition of the venom, giving them control over the kind of venom that is produced. Now we saw for the first time that this is also the case for the toxins produced by snake venom gland cells”, explains Joep Beumer (Hubrecht Institute). “We know from other secretory systems such as the pancreas and intestine that specialized cell types make subsets of hormones. For the first time, the researchers were able to study the toxin production of the individual cells in the venom gland. Indeed, various analyses showed that the organoids produce the vast majority of venom components, or toxins, made by the snakes. Through a high-resolution microscope, the researchers observed that the cells of the organoids are filled with dense structures that resemble the venom containing vesicles of the venom glands. Since the body temperature of snakes is lower than that of humans, the venom gland organoids only grew at lower temperatures 32✬ instead of 37✬. “The similarity between the growth conditions for human and snake tissues was staggering, with the main difference being the temperature”, says Jens Puschhof (Hubrecht Institute). They set up a collaboration with snake experts in Leiden, Liverpool and Amsterdam to collect venom glands from 9 different snakes and attempted to grow miniature versions of these glands in a dish.Īfter some tweaking of the conditions used to grow human organoids, the researchers developed a recipe that supports the growth of snake venom glands indefinitely.
They wondered whether this would work for reptilians too, and whether they might be able to produce venom in the lab. Three PhD students working in the group of Hans Clevers at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, the Netherlands, were inspired by their colleagues’ successes of growing mini-versions of mammalian organs in the lab, called organoids. A few main obstacles are the cumbersome and dangerous process of milking snakes and the difficulty of studying and modifying venom factors in the glands of the snake. Still, even in modern medicine, it has been challenging to fully exploit snake venom for drug development purposes and to protect people against its lethal potential. Since then, many drugs have been inspired by snake venom, including drugs that lower blood pressure lowering drugs and prevent bleeding. However, their toxins are also a rich source for new medicines and were already used for treatments in ancient Greece. Snakebite kills more than 100.000 people (and disables an estimated 400,000 individuals) every year, while many more suffer from ophidiophobia, an abnormal fear of snakes. The dark and bright side of snakes and their venom have fascinated mankind for millennia. Venom-producing snake organoids developed in the lab
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