Professor Richard Zare from the Stanford University works in the world of chemistry and has recent made a major advancement in…synthesizing scorpion venom.
Why scorpion venom? Because the medical world sees a bright future in using the venom in applications to kill highly infectious staphylococcus bacteria, strains of tuberculosis-causing bacteria and this is just the beginning. Before Professor Zare, his team at Stanford and the group working the the National University of Mexico were able to synthesize this venom, any use of the chemical would have been unthinkable. Why? Because it would cost roughly $39 million dollars to produce a gallon of scorpion venom via the traditional method of “milking” the actual creature.
Scorpions produce very little venom and use it as a last resort. It also takes a good deal of time to reproduce more venom – so even with an army of scorpions at your disposal, getting enough of the product to simply go through the testing phase is financially unimaginable. That idea has been swept aside now that scientists have access to the man-made version.
It should be noted that Professor Zare brings up the point that there are many species of scorpions and they all produce different venom with very different properties. His work only touches the surface of what is yet to come. His research has opened the door and provided a base to a potential medical breakthrough.
Listen to the podcast above and learn about the exciting work being done by two teams – internationally – that could change the future of some medicines as we know it!
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(Amy Iler & JJ Gordon are talk-show hosts at 790 AM KFGO in Fargo-Moorhead. “It Takes 2 with Amy & JJ” can be heard weekdays 11am-2pm. Check out the show page on
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