Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Sea Snail Toxin Offers Promise For Pain

Posted by kdawson on from the take-two-drops-and-call-me-in-the-morning dept.

Khyber writes to tell us about research out of Australia that holds out hope for chronic pain sufferers. The toxin of a sea snail, called conotoxin, has a component that has been shown to directly target pain receptors in experimental animals. Unlike essentially all existing pain relievers, conotoxin seems to suppress pain without side effects. Human trials are a year away.

8 of 206 comments (clear)

  1. Misleading title by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 3, Funny

    Shouldn't it read "Sea Snail Toxin Offers Promise For Pain SUFFERERS"? At first I thought it was an article about some new clever torture method for Gitmo prisoners or something...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:Misleading title by pilgrim23 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Human trials are still a year away? I see the research is progressing at a snail's pace...

      --
      - Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
    2. Re:Misleading title by sublimusasterisk · · Score: 3, Funny

      True, but given it's a sea snail, I'd say it's coming along swimmingly.

      --
      True believers seek redemption from the sin of death.
  2. Ouch. by Das+Auge · · Score: 5, Funny

    Death, the ultimate pain release...and it's good for weight loss, too.

  3. Experimental animals? by jonnythan · · Score: 4, Funny

    "The toxin of a sea snail, called conotoxin, has a component that has been shown to directly target pain receptors in experimental animals." ..... What about regular animals?

    Is that the next step?

    Experimental animals -> regular animals -> experimental humans -> regular humans??

    1. Re:Experimental animals? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Experimental animals are things like the platypus, yeti, and snipes.

  4. How Soon Before... by SRA8 · · Score: 2, Funny

    How Soon Before...my kids in high school start sniffing this stuff? Damn kids these days...

  5. Re:Toxin...Toxic? by HolyCrapSCOsux · · Score: 2, Funny

    Proves the power of prayer when combined with the power of a magic stick.

    --
    0xB315AA8D852DCD3F3DCA578FD2E0BF88