Here is yet another case of a home remedy waiting to be discovered. In 2005 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a drug for the treatment of Type II Diabetes. The drug is called Byetta (exenatide). There’s nothing amazing about that part. New drugs are created often.
The almost unbelievable part is where the drug originated. It wasn’t produced in a lab. Instead, the active ingredient of Byetta comes from the venomous saliva of the Gila Monster lizard.
The Gila Monster, once thought to be one of only two venomous lizards, lives in the deserts of the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico. The Gila Monster is a thick-bodied, heavy and slow-moving lizard. It grows to a maximum length of 2 feet (0.6 m) and preys on small rodents, fledgling birds, and eggs. It tends to eat animals on the ground that cannot move fast (or at all). The quick, strong bite of the Gila Monster delivers venomous saliva that is normally not fatal to humans.
Instead, there is a component of the lizard’s venom that is extremely helpful to certain humans. A component in the Gila Monster’s venom has proven remarkably effective in the control of...