{"id":117715,"date":"2021-09-01T15:55:15","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T22:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=117715"},"modified":"2021-09-01T15:55:15","modified_gmt":"2021-09-01T22:55:15","slug":"brazilian-viper-venom-may-become-tool-in-fight-against-coronavirus-study-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/09\/01\/brazilian-viper-venom-may-become-tool-in-fight-against-coronavirus-study-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazilian viper venom may become tool in fight against coronavirus, study shows"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>Courtesy The Peninsular<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepeninsulaqatar.com\/uploads\/2021\/08\/31\/post_main_cover_fit\/\/0b84e43bc4250a1c271525a174827ca896d07544.JPG\" alt=\"Brazilian viper venom may become tool in fight against coronavirus, study shows\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A jararacussu snake, whose venom is used in a study against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen at Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo, Brazil August 27, 2021. Picture taken August 27, 2021. REUTERS\/Carla Carniel <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SAO PAULO&nbsp;<\/strong>&#8211; Brazilian researchers have found that a molecule in the venom of a type of snake inhibited coronavirus reproduction in monkey cells, a possible first step toward a drug to combat the virus causing COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A study published in the scientific journal Molecules this month found that the molecule produced by the jararacussu pit viper inhibited the virus&#8217;s ability to multiply in monkey cells by 75%.ADVERTISING<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We were able to show this component of snake venom was able to inhibit a very important protein from the virus,&#8221; said Rafael Guido, a University of Sao Paulo professor and an author of the study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The molecule is a peptide, or chain of amino acids, that can connect to an enzyme of the coronavirus called PLPro, which is vital to reproduction of the virus, without hurting other cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Already known for its antibacterial qualities, the peptide can be synthesized in the laboratory, Guido said in an interview, making the capture or raising of the snakes unnecessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re wary about people going out to hunt the jararacussu around Brazil, thinking they&#8217;re going to save the world &#8230; That&#8217;s not it!&#8221; said Giuseppe Puorto, a herpetologist running the Butantan Institute&#8217;s biological collection in Sao Paulo. &#8220;It&#8217;s not the venom itself that will cure the coronavirus.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Researchers will next evaluate the efficiency of different doses of the molecule and whether it is able to prevent the virus from entering cells in the first place, according to a statement from the State University of Sao Paulo (Unesp), which was also involved in the research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They hope to test the substance in human cells but gave no timeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The jararacussu is one of the largest snakes in Brazil, measuring up to 6 feet (2 meters) long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It lives in the coastal Atlantic Forest and is also found in Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Courtesy The Peninsular A jararacussu snake, whose venom is used in a study against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen at Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo, Brazil August 27, 2021. Picture taken August 27, 2021. REUTERS\/Carla Carniel SAO PAULO&nbsp;&#8211; Brazilian researchers have found that a molecule in the venom of a type of snake inhibited [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122,174],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category--19-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117715\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}