Guest Essay: Serendipitous Gila Monster Venom Research That Led to GLP-1 Drugs Faces Funding Threats
By
Jeff Coller
Summary
This guest essay argues that funding for "weird" or curiosity-driven scientific research is under threat, using the example of John Eng's 1990s discovery of a GLP-1-like molecule in Gila monster venom. That serendipitous finding, made with modest VA hospital funds, eventually led to the development of blockbuster GLP-1 drugs. The article contends that such unconventional, high-risk research is becoming harder to sustain, which could stifle future breakthroughs.
Source
bskyGuest Essay: Serendipitous Gila Monster Venom Research That Led to GLP-1 Drugs Faces Funding Threatsnytimes.comKey quotes
· 3 pulledA slow, heavy desert lizard called the Gila monster can go months between meals.
Working with modest funds at a Veterans Affairs hospital, he and a colleague studied the lizard's venom and isolated a molecule that behaved like a human gut hormone, except that it lasted for hours instead of minutes.
Science turned a serendipitous finding about lizard venom into one of the most important drugs of the century, but that type of research is getting harder to do.
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