Journal article

Mutual enlightenment: A toolbox of concepts and methods for integrating evolutionary and clinical toxinology via snake venomics and the contextual stance

JJ Calvete, B Lomonte, AJ Saviola, F Bonilla, M Sasa, DJ Williams, EAB Undheim, K Sunagar, TNW Jackson

Toxicon X | ELSEVIER | Published : 2021

Open access

Abstract

Snakebite envenoming is a neglected tropical disease that may claim over 100,000 human lives annually worldwide. Snakebite occurs as the result of an interaction between a human and a snake that elicits either a defensive response from the snake or, more rarely, a feeding response as the result of mistaken identity. Snakebite envenoming is therefore a biological and, more specifically, an ecological problem. Snake venom itself is often described as a “cocktail”, as it is a heterogenous mixture of molecules including the toxins (which are typically proteinaceous) responsible for the pathophysiological consequences of envenoming. The primary function of venom in snake ecology is pre-subjugatio..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by Wellcome Trust


Funding Acknowledgements

Studies by JJC's research group cited in this review were partially funded by grants from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Madrid, Spain (BMC 2004-01432, BFU 2007-61563, BFU 2010-173730, BFU 2013-42833-P, and BFU 2017-89103-P). JJC wants to acknowledge and heartly thank all the researchers and collaborators of these projects who contributed laboratory work and numerous hours of scientific discussions. EABU was supported by a Norwegian Research Council FRIPROYRT Fellowship no. 287462. TNWJ was supported by National Health and Medical Research Grant 13/093/002 AVRU. KS was supported by DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Fellowship (IA/I/19/2/504647). Support by Vicerrectoria de Investigacion (University of Costa Rica) to work performed at Instituto Clodomiro Picado is also gratefully acknowledged.