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cover of episode How do snakes make venom?

How do snakes make venom?

2025/5/29
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Moment of Um

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Emily Taylor
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蛇毒是由蛇类头部的毒腺制造的,这些毒腺通过小管与牙齿相连。当蛇咬住猎物时,毒液会通过这些小管注入猎物体内。不同种类的蛇,甚至同一种蛇的不同个体,其毒液的成分和性质都可能存在显著差异。例如,响尾蛇的毒液可以长时间储存在毒腺中而不会失效,蛇的身体通常只在需要补充时才制造毒液。毒液在毒腺中并非活性状态,只有在注入猎物后才会被激活。我发现蛇毒在医学领域具有潜在的应用价值,目前一些研究人员正在利用蛇毒开发治疗癌症和心脏病等疾病的药物。事实上,已经有一种治疗血栓的药物是从响尾蛇毒液中提取和开发的。 Emily Taylor: 作为一名生物科学教授,我对蛇毒的产生和特性进行了深入研究。我发现蛇毒的复杂性远超我们的想象,它不仅在不同蛇种间存在差异,甚至在同一蛇种的不同个体间也有所不同。这种差异性使得蛇毒的研究具有挑战性,但也为我们寻找新的药物提供了可能性。我对蛇毒的医学应用前景充满信心,相信在不久的将来,蛇毒将为人类健康做出更大的贡献。

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Happy Snake Week! Every episode this week explores a different question about our slithery friends. Did you know that, out of the roughly 3,000 total species of snakes, only about 10-15% are venomous? But how do those snakes make venom in their bodies? We asked snake scientist Emily Taylor to help us find the answer. 

Got a question that’s *biting at you? *Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact), and we’ll search for the answer-dote!