 |
| Why is one liter of scorpion venom sold for ``a million dollars''? |
We know that if a snake bites a person, it can be fatal, but scorpions are also dangerous and can kill a person.
But did you know that the venom hidden in a scorpion sting can be as deadly as it is costly?
Two grams of scorpion venom are collected daily in a laboratory in Turkey. During this process, laboratory staff remove the scorpion from a container and wait until the scorpion expels a single drop of venom.
This drop is frozen and then preserved and sold.
Maidens and antlers breed scorpions. Talking to BBC, he said that there are 20 thousand scorpions on his farm.
“We feed them regularly, take care of them and nurture them. We extract their venom and freeze it. Then we sell it in Europe.
A scorpion sting contains only two milligrams of venom. Madden says that one gram of scorpion venom is obtained from about 300 to 400 scorpions, but what is the price of the venom if they sell it?
According to Madden, one liter of scorpion venom is sold for about one million dollars.
Medical use
The venom of a specific scorpion found in Latin America produces a substance called 'marga toxin' which helps in the formation of new cells in the blood vessels and is used in heart surgery.
These scorpions are five to eight centimeters in length and although their venom is not fatal, if they bite someone, the person will experience severe pain, swelling and itching.
David Beach is a professor at the University of Leeds who has been researching scorpion stings. They say that scorpion venom is very useful, even a small amount of it is beneficial.
He said that Marga toxin is used as a medicine but also used as a spray for heart diseases.
According to him, with the help of the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the British Medical Research Council, new research is being done on the use of scorpion venom in heart diseases.
Professor Peter Weisberg is the medical director of the British Heart Foundation. "This is a very good example of a material that is naturally harmful to humans but can also be used to treat humans," he says.
The medical use of scorpion venom has been researched for many years.
Nowadays, the sale of scorpion venom has become common because it is used not only in the medical field but also in cosmetics. It is also used in pain relievers and drugs related to the body's immune system.
A study published by the National Library of Medicine in 2020 suggested that an antidote can be made from scorpion venom.