US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — Somewhere there, in the depths of the ocean, there is a huge jellyfish waiting for prey to release a complex poisonous cocktail through its many long tentacles.
Weighing up to 200 kg, the giant jellyfish Nemopilema nomurai, better known as Nomura jellyfish, is one of the largest jellyfish in the world. Every year, thousands of unsuspecting swimmers in China, Korea, and Japan suffer from its poison.
When bitten, the creature’s venom causes immediate and severe pain, followed by redness and swelling. In rare cases, bites can lead to shock, serious injury, or even death.
Ultimately, scientists still do not know what makes this creature’s poison so dangerous (deadly for some people), but we are approaching the discovery of a truly deadly component.
In a new study, scientists began analyzing this incredible poison using genome sequencing, transcriptomics, and proteomics. However, they found an incredibly complex mixture of more than 200 toxins, each of which can affect certain organs or harm the body.
“Although we tried to isolate lethal toxin (s) from N. nomurai venom, it was extremely difficult to separate them from other proteins individually,” the authors explain in a new article.
In other words, these toxins are so complex that it is difficult to identify all the individual factors – at least without resorting to other types of experiments.
A better study of toxins can help us develop an antidote to the bite of this jellyfish, but first scientists need to find out if these potentially deadly toxins are equally dangerous to humans.
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