"One of the world’s ugliest creatures could hold the key to beating chronic pain, scientists believe.
The star-nosed mole, which boasts a bizarre snout fringed by 22 waggling tentacles that are highly sensitive to touch, could lead to new painkillers for people whose lives are blighted by arthritis and other conditions that leave them in constant pain.
The tiny creature, native to North America, lives underground in almost total darkness and so relies on its nose to ‘see’.
The points of the ‘star’ rapidly survey the floors and walls of its tunnels for tasty worms and grubs, much in the same way as a blind person uses a cane to hunt out obstacles.
After hitting on a tasty morsel, the mole, which weighs less than a bag of sugar, takes just 230 milliseconds to decide if it is edible and gobble it down."
...
"University of California researcher Diana Bautista said: ‘By studying the star-nosed mole, we have identified candidate genes that may mediate touch and pain.
‘These genes represent new potential targets for the development of much-needed drugs and therapies to treat chronic pain.'"
Full Article
- Date added:
- Jan 30, 2013
- Project:
- Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences
- Topic:
- Neuroscience
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