The secret of snakes carries

Snake with snake (Photo: TTO)

Researcher Zoltan Takacs (Yale Medical University, USA) explained this phenomenon as follows: venomous snakes are divided into two main families: cobra and snake-bearing snake.

Scientists who have discovered the serpent's blood contains molecules that can neutralize the deadly components of their own venom, but the snake carries its reaction to its venom in a different way.

Accordingly, neurotoxin is a key ingredient in snake venom bearing. It binds to an receptor on muscle bundles, preventing nerve impulses from contracting, causing the victim to stop breathing and die. The target that this poison attacks is acetylcholine receptor.

Zoltan Takacs compared the acetylcholine receptor of the snake with acetylcholine receptors of other vertebrates and found that at the molecular level they looked the same, except for one amino acid. With this simple difference in amino acids, a large sugar molecule is formed on the snake's receptor. This molecule obscures the so-called binding area on the receptor surface so that the toxin cannot be attached and that is the secret to the snake's ability to avoid its own venom.

NGUYEN SINH