High blood pressure? Grab the nearest dragon for the cure

kingsnake.com BFF Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry was presented with the Fenner Medal in Australia, but he wasn't about to rest on his laurels. He quickly shifted the spotlight to the use of venoms to treat medical conditions, one in particular, high blood pressure.

He has proven the proteins in dragon venom are 10 times more potent than the human body's mechanisms for lowering blood pressure. But the dragon proteins are not stable enough to treat high blood pressure in humans. Associate Professor Fry says he is collaborating with chemists to try to make the predatory toxins last longer, and find a way to deliver the treatment as a pill. "Since we already have the sequences and we already have the venoms, we don't need to worry about the wild populations," he said. "Rather we are using this information to try to bolster conservation efforts of showing why we need to protect these magnificent creatures.

He hopes to have a working model in five years to move forward with testing in cardiac patients, but he also has a hope that discoveries like this will help to work towards conservation efforts worldwide. To read the full article from ABCNews, click here.