Wayne Harland wrote:

> Frankly I'm surprised we haven't heard a bit more about the research
> being
> done on the medical applications of conotoxins from our more enlightened
> medical and scientific members.  Significant results have been found
> using
> conotoxins as neural blockers both as pain relievers and treatments for
> neurological disorders such as Parkinson's.  Dr Olviera at Utah, Dr.
> Frank
> Mari at Florida Atlantic and another study in Australia have been
> researching conotoxins for medicine for years. and have developed quite
> sophisticated methods for "milking" various Conus species.  Like
> Leslie, I
> have been involved in providing species for these studies and as I
> understand it, the biggest challenge is how to synthesize these complex
> toxins to provide a significant dosage to treat the target symptom.
> Perhaps
> some of our members might be able to provide us with a web site to
> expand on
> this further.  I my humble opinion, there is reason for optimism that
> derivatives from these "natural" sources have the potential for major
> scientific breakthroughs.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> [log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
> To leave this list, click on the following web link:
> http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
> Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
> click leave the list.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
Dear Wayne,

I believe that Toto's name is spelled Olivera not Oliviera.  Regardless,
there are tons of cladistic phylogenetic papers that use conotoxins as
the basic protein being examined.  The medical literature is also full
of theoretical and practical papers on conotoxins as well as many other
animal proteins.  If you search the various online sources many of these
will come up.  The most commonly used cone venom for pain was derived
from Pionoconus magus.  It is a bad idea to fool with these venoms for
self medication.  If you get some from the cones that eat fish, you
could find out that the deadly effect works on all vertebrates not just
fish.

Yours,


John

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------