Scorpion venom the secret to Covid variant drugs?
Scientists at the University of Aberdeen are looking to develop new anti-coronavirus drugs from the venom
Scientists at the University of Aberdeen are hoping they can use scorpion venom to combat the threat of new variants of coronavirus.
One of the oldest animals on earth, Scorpions - which have existed for more than 400 million years - have had their venom used in traditional therapies around the world.
Researchers claim the venom contains a "fascinating cocktail" of biologically active peptides, many of which are very potent neurotoxins, while several have shown strong antibacterial and antiviral activities and are thought to play a role in protecting the venomous gland from microbial infection.
These peptides could serve as a good starting point to design novel anti-coronavirus drugs.
The work is a collaboration with scientists from the University of Suez Canal in Egypt.
Collection of scorpion species were carried out under the tenets of the Convention on Biological Diversity and following the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization and the relevant legislations. After milking their venoms, scorpions were released into their natural habitats in the Egyptian Desert.
A venomous gland from each species was collected to analyse its genetic material which will reveal copious amounts of useful information on the venom peptide composition.
Scorpion venom is a very complex mixture containing hundreds of toxins and their analysis entails laborious experiments. After their purification and identification, venom peptides will be synthesised in higher quantities and structurally modified to confer drug-like properties using tailoring enzymes in the laboratory of Dr Houssen.
Dr Houssen said: “The study of scorpion venoms as a source of novel drugs is an exciting and productive area worthy of further investigation.
“We have already seen that these venoms contain extremely potent bioactive peptides, and we believe that there are many more await discovery.”
Professor Abdel-Rahman said: “Several scorpion species including the most toxic in the world are widespread in Egypt.
“Their venoms have not yet been fully studied and may represent an unorthodox source of new medicines.”