Scientists are unlocking the medical potential of venom.
Michael decided to go for a swim. He was on vacation with his family
in Guerrero, Mexico, and it was hotter than blazes. He grabbed his
swimming trunks from where they’d been drying on a chair, slid them on,
and jumped into the pool. Instead of cool relief, a burning pain ripped
through the back of his thigh. Tearing off his trunks, he leaped naked
from the pool, his leg on fire.
Behind him a small, ugly, yellow creature was treading water. He
scooped it into a Tupperware container, and the caretaker of the house
rushed him to the local Red Cross facility, where doctors immediately
identified his attacker: a bark scorpion, Centruroides sculpturatus,
one of the most venomous species in North America. The fierce pain from
a sting is typically followed by what feels like electric shocks
racking the body. Occasionally victims die.
For the rest of the story: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/02/venom/holland-text?src=longreads
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