The idea of using lethal toxins to make life-saving medicines may seem unconventional, but humans have been doing it for centuries. Here, we take a look at eight species whose venoms and stingers have inspired a slew of treatments.
Anyone who has had the misfortune of stepping on a sea anemone can attest to the jolt of pain its tentacles deliver. Sea anemones are part of the same group of invertebrates as jellyfish and possess the same potent stinging cells, known as cnidocytes. Each cnidocyte contains a cnidocyst, an organelle which resembles a miniature coiled harpoon.
Toxins contained within the cells, typically neurotoxins, help immobilize small prey. The cnidocysts' brutal efficiency served as inspiration for the Israel-based drug company NanoCyte, which hopes to harness the anemone's stinging cells to create a unique drug for diabetics.
NanoCyte envisages mixing cnidocysts into a special skin cream that could be used to dispense insulin. The insulin would be added to a cream containing the stinging cells; the harpoon-like cells would then inject the insulin directly into the skin.