\n
The stonefish is the world\u2019s most venomous fish – Copyright AFP Shwan MOHAMMED<\/small><\/em><\/p>\nLaura CHUNG<\/em><\/p>\nImagine feeling like an elephant is sitting on your chest, you can\u2019t breathe, there\u2019s a sense of impending doom and the pain is so intense you want to die.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve just been stung by a tiny Irukandji jellyfish.<\/p>\n
While you are unlikely to die, toxicologist Jamie Seymour of James Cook University in Australia says you\u2019ll wish you had.<\/p>\n
He should know \u2014 he\u2019s been stung 11 times.<\/p>\n
But Seymour\u2019s job is riskier than most: milking sea creatures of their venom to create life-saving antivenoms.<\/p>\n
Dozens of Irukandji jellyfish, some no bigger than a sesame seed, float in tanks inside a metal shed kept by the university in the state of Queensland.<\/p>\n
In another tank, there are the most venomous\u00a0fish in the world: the stonefish.<\/p>\n
If its spines pierce your skin, the pain will cause you to lose consciousness and the area around the wound will turn black and die.<\/p>\n
The stonefish\u2019s venom is powerful enough to kill humans, but there have been no recorded fatalities in Australia. Seymour is also among those who have survived its sting.<\/p>\n
His team is studying Australia\u2019s deadliest marine animals in a bid to understand them and keep people safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia is without a doubt the most venomous continent in the world,\u201d Seymour told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you talk to people, especially Americans, they\u2019re\u00a0surprised that we don\u2019t all die at birth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Seymour moves around the tanks, he points out other deadly animals, including a box jellyfish which can kill a person within 10 minutes with its poison.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Stings and bites \u2013<\/p>\n
Despite the countless venomous animals across Australia, fatalities are relatively rare.<\/p>\n
The latest official data show that between 2001 and 2017, there were an average of 32 animal-related deaths a year, with horses and cows the biggest killers.<\/p>\n
Since 1883, there have been only two recorded deaths from Irukandji jellyfish and about 70 deaths from box jellyfish.<\/p>\n
By comparison, there were about 4,700 deaths from drug, alcohol and vehicle-related incidents in Australia in 2022 alone, according to government data.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, the chances of you being stung by an animal in Australia \u2014 or bitten \u2014 is reasonable, but the chances of dying very small,\u201d Seymour said.<\/p>\n
His facility is the only one that milks venom from these deadly marine animals and turns it into antivenom.<\/p>\n
For the deadly box jellyfish, that process is tricky. Researchers must remove their tentacles, freeze-dry them and collect the venom once it solidifies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no antivenom for the Irukandji jellyfish.<\/p>\n
Instead, doctors treat each symptom as it appears. If you get rapid medical advice, the chance of survival is high.<\/p>\n
For the stonefish, the venom extraction process is more challenging.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Researchers insert a syringe into a live fish\u2019s venom glands, holding it with a towel while they withdraw a thimble full of the deadly fluid.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They then send the venom to a facility in the state of Victoria which processes it into life-saving antivenom.\u00a0<\/p>\n
First, the facility staff inject a small amount of venom over six months into an animal, such as a horse, which produces natural antibodies.<\/p>\n
The animal\u2019s plasma is later removed and the antibodies are extracted, purified and reduced into an antivenom for humans.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Deadly jellies \u2013<\/p>\n
Antivenoms are shipped to hospitals around Australia and some Pacific islands, where they can be administered if someone is stung or bitten by an animal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have some of the best antivenoms in the world, there is no doubt about that,\u201d Seymour told AFP, noting the time and effort put into producing the serums in Australia.<\/p>\n
And antivenom may be increasingly needed, as climate change can raise the risk of a sting, according to scientists.<\/p>\n
About 60 years ago, the Irukandji jellyfish stinging season in Australia was in November and December.<\/p>\n
With ocean temperatures staying warmer for longer, now the jellyfish can linger as late as March.<\/p>\n
Warming oceans are also pushing these deadly sea jellies \u2014 and other marine animals \u2014 further south along the Australian coast. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Seymour\u2019s students have found that temperature changes can also alter the toxicity of venom.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, if I make an antivenom for an animal at 20 degrees and I get bitten by an animal that lives in the wild at 30 degrees, that antivenom isn\u2019t going to work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Studies have also shown that venom from stinging creatures could be used to treat myriad health conditions, including one in which rheumatoid arthritis was effectively cured in mice in two weeks.<\/p>\n
But this area of research remains largely unfunded, and Seymour says his work continues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you think of the venom, think of it like a vegetable stew. There\u2019s a whole heap of different components that are in there,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019ve been trying to do is pull these things apart and work out what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Milking venom from Australia’s deadly marine animals
\n
#Milking #venom #Australias #deadly #marine #animals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The stonefish is the world\u2019s most venomous fish – Copyright AFP Shwan MOHAMMED Laura CHUNG…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[4331,2234,465,4330,4328,4329],"yoast_head":"\n
Milking venom from Australia's deadly marine animals - International Pulse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8022\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Milking venom from Australia's deadly marine animals - International Pulse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The stonefish is the world\u2019s most venomous fish – Copyright AFP Shwan MOHAMMED Laura CHUNG...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8022\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"International Pulse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-08T05:24:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8022\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8022\",\"name\":\"Milking venom from Australia's deadly marine animals - International Pulse\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-08T05:24:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-08T05:24:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#\/schema\/person\/d507bf8682a9ef7e3ad7a69d9db5e1c3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8022#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8022\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8022#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Milking venom from Australia’s deadly marine animals\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/\",\"name\":\"International Pulse\",\"description\":\"There's a different sound here\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#\/schema\/person\/d507bf8682a9ef7e3ad7a69d9db5e1c3\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8e3f392738821708fe4235b6ffa7215?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8e3f392738821708fe4235b6ffa7215?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/demo6.aiwalls.com\/automatic-news\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Milking venom from Australia's deadly marine animals - International Pulse","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8022","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Milking venom from Australia's deadly marine animals - International Pulse","og_description":"The stonefish is the world\u2019s most venomous fish – Copyright AFP Shwan MOHAMMED Laura CHUNG...","og_url":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8022","og_site_name":"International Pulse","article_published_time":"2024-05-08T05:24:00+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8022","url":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8022","name":"Milking venom from Australia's deadly marine animals - International Pulse","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-05-08T05:24:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-08T05:24:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#\/schema\/person\/d507bf8682a9ef7e3ad7a69d9db5e1c3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8022#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8022"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=8022#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Milking venom from Australia’s deadly marine animals"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/","name":"International Pulse","description":"There's a different sound here","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#\/schema\/person\/d507bf8682a9ef7e3ad7a69d9db5e1c3","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8e3f392738821708fe4235b6ffa7215?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f8e3f392738821708fe4235b6ffa7215?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/demo6.aiwalls.com\/automatic-news"],"url":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?author=1"}]}},"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/643c70b82912702de9080c496f711593aa3bd2df.jpg",768,526,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/643c70b82912702de9080c496f711593aa3bd2df-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/643c70b82912702de9080c496f711593aa3bd2df-300x205.jpg",300,205,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/643c70b82912702de9080c496f711593aa3bd2df.jpg",640,438,false],"large":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/643c70b82912702de9080c496f711593aa3bd2df.jpg",640,438,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/643c70b82912702de9080c496f711593aa3bd2df.jpg",768,526,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/643c70b82912702de9080c496f711593aa3bd2df.jpg",768,526,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/643c70b82912702de9080c496f711593aa3bd2df.jpg",768,526,false],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/643c70b82912702de9080c496f711593aa3bd2df-768x500.jpg",768,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/643c70b82912702de9080c496f711593aa3bd2df.jpg",768,526,false],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/643c70b82912702de9080c496f711593aa3bd2df-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/643c70b82912702de9080c496f711593aa3bd2df-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?cat=7\" rel=\"category\">Stories<\/a>","tag_info":"Stories","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8022"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}