Venomous snail key behind therapeutic molecules Can a painkiller
be re-engineered to get a closer look at how proteins bind to
communication channels? Researchers across Europe are using
state-of-the-art computing techniques to re-engineer a
painkiller from the XEP-018 protein, which was identified inside
the venom of the Conus consors, a species of sea snail. The
study is funded in part by the CONCO ('Applied venomics of the
cone snail species Conus consors for the accelerated, cheaper,
safer and more ethical production of innovative biomedical
drugs') project, which is backed with more than EUR 10 million
under the 'Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health'
Thematic area of the EU's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6).
CONCO, gathering 19 European partners and the J.Craig Venter
Institute in the United States, is using the venomous sea snail
to develop new therapeutic molecules. 'All senses in our body
are transmitted to and from the brain via neurons' quoted Dr
Henry Hocking from Utrecht University