Though cone snail insulin has different properties than the insulin made in the human body, the researchers found that the insulin complexes remained stable, and bound to human insulin receptors even better than the human hormone.
![cone snail cone snail](http://media.apnarm.net.au/img/media/images/2015/06/10/MWT_11-06-2015_ROP_04_MWT110615NEconesnail_t620.jpg)
“It was a huge surprise when the discovery was made by other researchers that this is the first known, naturally occurring example of insulin ever occurring in a monomeric form by itself,” Vashisth said.įor their study, Gorai and Vashisth modeled six different analogs of cone snail insulin to show how they would bind with human insulin receptors. And the cone snail’s insulin is naturally one molecule. But fast-acting insulin treatments try to release a single molecule of insulin at a time, because receptor proteins only recognize a single molecule of insulin, Vashisth said. Insulin is produced in human bodies in large clusters. In a recently published study, he and lead author Biswajit Gorai explored how variants of the snails’ insulin-like venom could bind to human insulin receptors. The cone snail venom intrigued Harish Vashisth, a chemical engineering professor. Get NHPR's reporting about politics, the pandemic, and other top stories in your inbox - sign up for our newsletter today.īut a recent study from the University of New Hampshire found that these deadly creatures could lead to promising new treatments for diabetes. There have even been reports of human fatalities.
![cone snail cone snail](https://img.bidorbuy.co.za/image/upload/user_images/829/186829/186829_130603194648_conchiglia_2_001.jpg)
![cone snail cone snail](https://i.etsystatic.com/35514014/r/il/1f3483/4032403065/il_794xN.4032403065_758y.jpg)
Cone snails use their venom to immobilize and kill their prey by lowering blood sugar levels and sending them into hypoglycemic shock.