Earth Wise Environmental Education Centre

ENCORE! ENCORE!

Due to popularity we are extending our Medical Monday Feature into the month of July... Here are even why snakes are incredibly important to people through medicine.

Todays Medical Monday: the Black Mamba.
Mambalgins are peptides isolated from black mamba venom that are being investigated for use as painkillers. When tested on mice, they were found to be as strong as morphine with fewer side effects.

Photo generously provided by: Ryan Vince Photography

The southern copperhead:
The protein vicrostatin mimics contortrostatin, a protein isolated from southern copperhead venom. It has been shown to not only slow the growth of human breast cancer tumors in mice but also impair their ability to spread to other parts of the body.

Learn more, read the fascinating study:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0010929

http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/abcr.2013.24026

Every Monday in the month of June we plan to share reasons why snakes are incredibly important to people through medicine.

The saw scaled viper:
Tirofiban (Aggrastat) is derived from a protein contained in the venom of the saw-scaled viper. It prevents blood clots from forming and is used, in combination with heparin, in the treatment of heart attacks, coronary artery disease, and unexpected chest pain.

Photo Generously provided by: CAZARESphoto

Source:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/03/11/how-a-pit-viper-saved-millions-of-lives-snakes-as-drug-factories/ #.VXc5eGBh3fZ



Herpetological Conservation International

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This story is similar to the story in Australia. Astri Leroy and Norman Larsen are two of the most well known people in South African spider circles.

Spider web 'blanket' cloaks Krugersdorp farm A grass farm on the West Rand has turned into an autumn wonderland with a massive silver cloak, thought to have been woven by tiny spiders, stretching over the fields.

France Declares All New Rooftops Must Be Topped With Plants Or Solar Panels | CSGlobe A new law recently passed in France mandates that all new buildings that are built in commercial zones in France must be partially covered in either plants

Here is something facinating

Carrier Snail

These sea-snails really like to decorate. As they grow, they grab things from their surroundings, living or dead, and hold them in place while their shell grows around them, and cements them into place.

These remarkable gastropods are in the genus Xenophora (xeno = 'foreign', phora = 'carrier'), and are found in deep tropical waters throughout the Indo-Pacific, from East Africa, all the way to New Zealand and Japan. The specimen in this photo is Xenophora pallidula, or 'pale carrier snail'.

Why do they do this? In simple terms, to make themselves bigger. Larger, spikier objects are harder for predators to get their jaws or claws around. Many gastropods, like the spectacular Murex 'comb shells' (https://goo.gl/SnxuZW
), do this by physically growing a complex network of spines. However, this takes a lot of time and energy. The Xenophora have found an efficient short cut, by collecting rocks and shells to act as makeshift spines.

They're not too fussy about what they pick up. Their decorations depend mostly on what's around them - this one, it seems, was living around a lot of smaller sea shells. Some pick up living sponges, which grow to several times their size, providing the ultimate mega-spine. A few in East Africa have developed a symbiotic relationship with a barnacle (Paralepas).

IMPORTANT: You'll find these spectacular shells for sale in various places on the internet. PLEASE DO NOT BUY THEM. They are usually caught live, and by buying them you'll be creating a market for unsustainable fishing in delicate ecosystems.

- OB

Image Credit: http://goo.gl/Hl4Awx
(with permission)

Further reading:
- More about Carrier Shells: http://goo.gl/RcTpev

- Symbiotic Barnacles: http://goo.gl/zQAlpn

16 July 2014

A boring topic but I think students still enjoyed it