Sea Snail Toxin Offers Promise For Pain

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.

Comments

Before anyone else chimes in..

[Khyber]

It's not the toxin itself, rather a component of the toxin that offers the pain relief. The /. editors must've edited that out, from my original entry.