Poison frogs may lead to new medications

Phyllobates terribillis

 

 

 

Toto Olivera of the University of Utah thinks that research into the function of batrachotoxin, a compound found in the skin of Phyllobates terribillis (Golden Poison Dart Frog), could lead us to a better understanding of electrical impulses in neurons.

 Congenital insensitivity to pain is caused by the same protein that this poison acts on, as well as other disorders like "man on fire" syndrome. The hope is that research on this poison will lead to effective treatments against these disorders and/or development of drugs that prevent pain, similar to how cone snail venom was used to develop ziconotide.

 This article can be found in its entirety at http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/17/502324984/chemists-recreate-deadly-frog-poison-in-the-lab

Photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar, Getty Images