Advertisement

Snail Venom Yields Potent Painkiller, But Delivering The Drug Is Tricky

The sea snail <em>Conus magus </em>looks harmless enough, but it packs a venomous punch that lets it paralyze and eat fish. A peptide modeled on the venom is a powerful painkiller, though sneaking it past the blood-brain barrier has proved hard. (Courtesy of Jeanette Johnson and Scott Johnson)
The sea snail Conus magus looks harmless enough, but it packs a venomous punch that lets it paralyze and eat fish. A peptide modeled on the venom is a powerful painkiller, though sneaking it past the blood-brain barrier has proved hard. (Courtesy of Jeanette Johnson and Scott Johnson)

Related:

Advertisement

More from WBUR

Listen Live
Close