By Vanessa Chalmers Health Reporter For Mailonline
Published: 19:10 BST, 14 June 2019 | Updated: 19:11 BST, 14 June 2019
View
comments
Doctors could use scorpion venom to fight human infections after a study on mice found it can kill bacteria without poisonous effects.
The venom contains two chemicals which scientists discovered have antibacterial abilities and were able to kill strains responsible for diseases such as tuberculosis.
Taken from the Diplocentrus melici scorpion, which is found in Mexico, the venom has promise because it managed to fight off bacteria without damaging healthy tissue in mice.
But there is a catch – because it's so difficult to extract from such a specific and deadly insect, scientists say it would cost around £34m per gallon to produce for medicine.
Doctors could use scorpion venom to fight human infections after a study on mice found it can kill bacteria without poisonous effects, scientists have found
Professor Richard Zare, from Stanford University, study senior author, said: 'These compounds might not be the poisonous component of the venom.
'We have no idea why the scorpion makes these compounds. There are more mysteries.'
Professor Zare worked with Professor Lourival Possani, from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, who has focused on identifying compounds with medicinal potential in scorpion venom for 45 years.
Their students captured a few specimens of D. melici in Mexico then 'milked' them for the venom by stimulating their tails with mild electric pulses.
The researchers found two key chemical compounds called benzoquinones.
Both compounds had a similar molecular structure and one contained oxgygen and the other sulfur.
Professor Zare said: 'We only had 0.5 microliters of the venom to work with. This is ten times less than the amount of blood a mosquito will suck in a single serving.'
