| Title | Venomous Creatures Change Their Venom Recipe Often | |
| Date | Tuesday March 06 2018, @09:33AM | |
| Author | mrpg | |
| Topic | ||
| from the recipe? dept. | ||
[...] For a long time scientists believed that an animal's venom was consistent over time: once a venomous creature, always a venomous creature. However, through a close study of sea anemones, Dr. Yehu Moran of Hebrew University's Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Science, found that animals change their venom several times over the course of a lifetime, adapting the potency and recipe of their venom to suit changing predators and aquatic environments.
[...] Dr. Moran found that while in the larvae stage, sea anemones produce uniquely potent venom that causes predators to immediately spit them out if swallowed. Later on, when the sea anemones grow big and become predators themselves, their venom adapts to their new lifestyle by producing a different kind of toxin, one best suited to catch small fish and shrimp. Over the course of a lifetime, as the Nematostella's diet changes and they move from one aquatic region to another, they adapt their venom to suit their new needs and environment.
"Until now, venom research focused mainly on toxins produced by adult animals. However, by studying sea anemones from birth to death, we discovered that animals have a much wider toxin arsenal than previously thought. Their venom evolves to best meet threats from predators and to cope with changing aquatic environments," explained Dr. Yehu Moran.
[...] Most fundamentally, Moran's study sheds more light on the basic mechanisms of Darwinism: How do animals adapt to their changing world and ecological habitats? The Nematostella, with its changing venom, provides us yet another clue.
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