Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazelle
Snakes in Australia are being studied by scientists to see if the effect of their venom can be of benefit to humans. For example, they've found that snake venom targets only certain cells, so its action would be beneficial to killing cancer cells. They want to find out the action so that they can duplicate the substance artificially.
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my favorite tidbit is about the vampire bats found here in Belize.
scientists isolated an anticoagulant from vampire bats, called
Draculin, and it's being used for medical purposes now, to thin blood after strokes and heart attacks!
Draculin is a glycoprotein found in the saliva of vampire bats. It is composed of 411 amino acids. It functions as an anticoagulant, inhibiting coagulation factors IX (IXa) and X (Xa), and thus keeping the blood of the bitten victim from clotting while the bat is drinking.
http://www.wikimirror.com/Vampire_bat
slurp, slurp!
