A chemical compound found in sea snails venom has been discovered to block pain by targeting various different neural synapses, same as the ones used by opioid painkillers.
A new treatment prepared from the venom compound could offer a far better alternative to the wide spread opioid medications, a catastrophe described as the worst drug pandemic in the history of the world.
The painkilling compound called RglA, is a peptide matter that occurs naturally in the venom of small sea snall species with a cone-shaped shell called Conus Regius commonly found in the Caribbean Sea.
Baldomero Olivera, a biologist from the university of Utah said, "Nature has evolved molecules that are extremely sophisticated, and can have unexpected applications. We were interested in using venoms to understand different pathways in the nervous system."
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