Plan toxins (such as digitalis) have long been used as medicine and recently there has been a development to explore a new field, reptile venoms, for their curative potential. There have been several positive results from basic research and clinical trials, such as using eritostatin from the Asian sand viper to kill melanoma cells, Crototoxin from the South American rattlesnake to kill cancer cells, and hanalgesin from the king cobra as an oral pain medication 20-200 more powerful than injected morphine. Very appropriate for the year of the snake.
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21569015-snake-venom-being-used-cure-rather-kill-toxic-medicine?fsrc=rss%7Csct
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