Biomedical scientist Zoltan Takacs has traveled to more than 190 countries in search of venomous creatures that can potentially help create new medical treatments -- like this sea snake in Fiji. Scroll through the gallery for more on the ways venomous animals are aiding in drug development.
Zoltan Takacs
Animal venoms have evolved to immobilize and kill prey in seconds. Venomous toxins target vital body parts with extreme precision and potency, making them valuable templates to craft new drugs. Pictured, a desert viper preys on a gecko.
Courtesy Zoltan Takacs
The venom of the Brazilian lancehead viper was once used on arrowheads. It was later identified as a potent drug to treat high blood pressure and was the first venom-based drug approved by the FDA, in 1981.
Courtesy Greg Hume
Snake venom is captured through a process known as "milking" -- luring snakes to bite onto a material laid over the opening of a jar.
Courtesy Bryan Fry
A toxin isolated from saw-scaled viper venom served as the template for the drug tirofiban, used in the treatment of myocardial infarction. The snake is found in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.
Courtesy Zoltan Takacs
Viper venom prevents blood from clotting, which can be harnessed for anticoagulant drugs. Pictured, left: Blood from a healthy control coagulates after 20 minutes of test time. Right: Bitten by a mountain pit viper, blood from a patient in Nepal remains unclotted after 20 minutes.
Courtesy Zoltan Takacs
Venomous marine snails such as the cone snail have complex and potent venoms. The drug ziconotide originated from cone snail venom and is today used for the management of severe chronic pain.
Courtesy Zoltan Takacs
The Gila monster is one of the very few species of venomous lizard. It's found in the United States and Mexico and is the source of exenatide -- a drug used to treat Type 2 diabetes.
Courtesy Zoltan Takacs
Toxins produced by sea anemones have been in trials for a drug to treat autoimmune diseases, where the immune system attacks certain cells in the body by mistaking them for invaders.
TARIK TINAZAY/AFP/Getty Images
More than 1,000 species of fish have venom, including the Lionfish found in the Republic of Palau, Micronesia, whose spines have apparatus to produce venom when needed. The vast majority of the world's venomous fish remain unexplored by science.
Courtesy Zoltan Takacs
The venom of the deathstalker scorpion has been in trials for use during surgery to help surgeons locate tumors in the body.
Courtesy Alastair Rae
The venom of the fire-bellied toad has been in trials to develop drugs to help image and identify prostate cancer in patients.
Courtesy Chris Paul
Teams at the University of Singapore are working with venom from the King Cobra -- isolating a particular toxin that shows strong potential as a treatment for chronic pain.
Courtesy Bryan Fry
Viper venoms are a highly successful source of drugs, but many vipers live in endangered habitats. Pictured, a bush viper hanging from the tree branches at the border of Cameroon and Republic of the Congo.
Courtesy Zoltan Takacs
Teams at the University of Queensland are studying the venom of the the spider tail viper, native to Iran, which has an appendage on its tail resembling a spider to lure its prey. By studying rare and remote animals like these, researchers hope to find toxins that can be used to develop new drugs.
Courtesy Bryan Fry
Despite their deadly venoms, sea snakes are commercially harvested in Asia and made into soups. But the venoms of sea snakes and other marine animals remain mostly unexplored and are an important natural treasure.
