Milk venom from Australia’s deadly marine animals – News

The stonefish’s venom is powerful enough to kill humans, but there have been no fatalities in Australia

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James Cook University associate professor and toxicologist Jamie Seymour extracts poison from a stonefish, the world’s most poisonous fish, in his work shed in the Queensland city of Cairns. —AFP

Imagine feeling like an elephant is sitting on your chest, you can’t breathe, there is a feeling of impending doom and the pain is so intense that you want to die.

You just got stung by a small Irukandji jellyfish.

While it’s unlikely you’ll die, toxicologist Jamie Seymour of James Cook University in Australia says you might want to.

He should know: he was stabbed eleven times.

But Seymour’s job is riskier than most: milking sea creatures of their venom to create life-saving antidotes.

Dozens of Irukandji jellyfish, some no bigger than a sesame seed, float in tanks in a metal shed at a university in Queensland state.

In another aquarium live the most poisonous fish in the world: the stonefish.

If the spines pierce your skin, the pain will cause you to lose consciousness and the area around the wound will turn black and die.

The stonefish’s venom is powerful enough to kill humans, but there have been no fatalities in Australia. Seymour is also among those who survived the sting.

His team studies Australia’s deadliest marine animals in an effort to understand them and protect people.

“Australia is without a doubt the most toxic continent in the world,” Seymour told AFP.

“When you talk to people, especially Americans, they are surprised that we don’t all die at birth.”

As Seymour walks through the tanks, he points out other deadly animals, including a box jellyfish whose venom can kill a person in 10 minutes.

Despite the numerous venomous animals throughout Australia, fatalities are relatively rare.

The latest official data shows that there was an average of 32 animal-related deaths per year between 2001 and 2017, with horses and cows being the biggest causes of death.

Since 1883, only two deaths from Irukandji jellyfish have been recorded and approximately 70 deaths from box jellyfish.

By comparison, there were approximately 4,700 deaths from drug, alcohol and vehicle-related incidents in Australia alone in 2022, according to government data.

“So the chance of being stung – or bitten – by an animal in Australia is reasonable, but the chance of dying is very small,” Seymour said.

His facility is the only one that milks venom from these deadly sea creatures and turns it into antidotes.

That process is difficult for the deadly box jellyfish. Researchers must remove their tentacles, freeze-dry them and collect the venom as it solidifies.

There is no antidote for the Irukandji jellyfish.

Instead, doctors treat each symptom as it appears. If you get medical advice quickly, your chances of survival are high.

For the stonefish, the venom extraction process is more challenging.

Researchers insert a syringe into the venom glands of a living fish and hold it with a towel while they extract a thimbleful of deadly fluid.

They then send the poison to a factory in Victoria state, where it is processed into a life-saving antidote.

First, the facility’s staff injects a small amount of poison into an animal, such as a horse, for six months, which produces natural antibodies.

The animal’s plasma is later removed and the antibodies are extracted, purified and reduced into an antidote for humans.

Antivenoms are shipped to hospitals in Australia and some Pacific islands, where they can be administered if someone is stung or bitten by an animal.

“We have some of the best antivenoms in the world, there’s no doubt about that,” Seymour told AFP, noting the time and effort put into producing the serums in Australia.

And antivenom may be increasingly needed, scientists say, as climate change could increase the risk of a sting.

About 60 years ago, the stinging season of Irukandji jellyfish in Australia was in November and December.

With ocean temperatures staying warmer for longer, the jellyfish can now linger into March.

Warming oceans are also pushing these deadly sea jellies – and other marine creatures – further south along the Australian coast.

Seymour’s students have discovered that temperature changes can also change the toxicity of poison.

“For example, if I make an antidote for an animal at 20 degrees and I get bitten by an animal that lives in the wild at 30 degrees, that antidote will not work,” he said.

Studies have also shown that venom from stinging creatures can be used to treat numerous health conditions, including a condition that effectively cured rheumatoid arthritis in mice within two weeks.

But this area of ​​research remains largely unfunded, and Seymour says his work continues.

“When you think of the poison, think of it as a vegetable stew. There’s a whole bunch of different components in there,” he said.

“What we’ve been trying to do is take these things apart and figure out what’s going on.”