New Deadly Poison Discovered in Sea Slug: Potential for Future Drug Development

KOMPAS.com – The sea slug, Conus magus, turns out to have a new type of poison that is very deadly.

The new poison in the cone snail was recently revealed by researchers at the University of Queensland, quoted from Phys, Saturday (1/7/2023).

For researchers, the discovery of a new poison in sea slugs is a valuable treasure, because this poison has the potential for drug development in the future.

Professor Richard Lewis, Dr. Aymeric Rogalski and Dr. Himaya Siddhihalu Wickrama Hewage of the University of Queensland’s Institute of Molecular Biosciences has long studied poison as medicine.

Also read: Snake and Spider Poison Becomes New Habitat for Bacteria, How come?

In a new venom discovery study in cone snails published in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers discovered important differences in the life cycles of this tiny carnivorous marine species.

Lewis revealed that there is variation in diet, behavior and toxicity in the cone snail, Conus magus.

“Juvenile slugs will use a different mix of toxins from adult slugs to kill their prey,” explains Lewis.

According to him, the new venom in sea slugs is a rich group of molecules that have not been explored so far.

Also read: Why Does the King Cobra Have So Many Deadly Poisons?

Therefore, this discovery is a potential research guide for drugs.

“A lot of our success with venom molecules has been in developing pain medications, but depending on pharmacology, we will see if these molecules have therapeutic potential for any of the disease classes.”

In addition, the researchers were also surprised when they found that the juvenile cone snails did not eat fish like the adults.

“The young snails will only eat polychaete worms, which they will catch using a special hunting technique called ‘stinging and stalking,'” Lewis said.

Also read: How to Get Scorpion Venom for Research?

Cone snail venom research

Lewis revealed that researchers around the world have been studying adult sea snails and their deadly venom.

However, little is known about the early life stages of this cone snail.

“This is because their eggs, larvae and young are very difficult to find and difficult to maintain in an aquarium,” he said.

“Dr. Rogalski took up this challenge during his doctoral studies, by conducting very complex aquaculture research to find out how and what each life stage of this snail eats,” Lewis added.

Now, researchers have managed to have a sustainable system in place to further observe this species of sea slug by keeping it in a controlled environment, and enabling research into the cone snail’s life cycle and venom.

Also read: Known to be Adorable, Slow Lorises Have Dangerous Poisons

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2023-07-01 11:00:00
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