The Naturalis Biodiversity Center is located there.
The Asian forest scorpion was used in the study. Arie van der Meijden is a person. Arie van der Meijden has a credit.
An international team of scientists has found a way to study venom genes. It is possible to determine the unique venom production of a wide range of venomous animals that have not been studied before.
A group of scientists from VU Amsterdam and the University of Porto have succeeded in finding the blueprints for the proteins in scorpion venom. The blueprints show which genes are active in venom production.
The venom is in the body.
The technique is called transcriptomics. Patterns of gene expression can be examined using this method. The researchers can observe which genes are active during venom production. This approach is unique in that it has been successfully applied for the first time on the actual venom instead of on venom glands. Animals no longer need to be sacrificed to study venom genes. There are many new possibilities for venom research that the method offers.
Which genes are active?
Freek Vonk, professor at the VU and researcher at Naturalis, says that this technique allows them to see which genes are active during the venom production. The snapshot offers the first chance to study how various influences, such as nutrition, season, and age, influence the venom production in a single individual.
It is now possible to investigate which variations exist in the venom and which factors can influence them. The venom contains hundreds of different venomous substances, which are produced by the venom glands. Vonk says that after a bite or sting, it can have a toxic effect on various systems.
Different methods of venom production. The Naturalis Biodiversity Center is a credit.
The cell is still there.
Mtys Bittenbinder is a student at Naturalis and the VU. Some animals, such as snakes and centipedes, have venom-produced cells that issue their venom to the storage space in the venom gland in small vesicles, which results in a relatively'clean' venom. scorpions allow their venom cells to be cut off in pieces or completely destroyed in the venom storage space and therefore produce a venom that contains many cell remains. The substances on which we can perform transcriptomics are contained in the cell remains.
Arie van der Meijden says that the new technique does not work on snakes. He is the inventor of the innovative approach. It is now possible to study the venom variations in a large number of venomous animals, such as scorpions, fish, and even the platypus.
The venom glands of Heterometrus petersi have a lot of cells. Arie van der Meijden has a credit.
Better research into venom composition.
The method is simpler, more specific, and more pure than before. We can do better research into how animals produce venom. The toxins in the venom are an important source for finding new, potential drugs, such as drugs to treat cardiovascular diseases.
The old and new techniques are used to study scorpion venom. The Naturalis Biodiversity Center is a credit.
There is more information in the article, "A non-lethal method for studying scorpion venom transcriptomes, with a review of potentially suitable taxa to which it can be applied," published in the journal PLOS ONE.
There is a non-lethal method for studying scorpion venom gland transcriptomes, with a review of potentially suitable taxa to which it can be applied. There is a journal called "journal.pone.0258712".
The journal contains information about the PLoS ONE.
The center is provided by Naturalis.
A new technique for examining gene expression is changing venom research.
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