Why Don't Snakes Poison Themselves?
Summary
TLDRThis MinuteEarth video explores how toxic animals like the Egyptian cobra avoid harming themselves despite carrying potent venom. It explains four strategies: evolving nerve proteins to resist their own toxins, producing proteins that neutralize the venom, storing toxins in isolated areas, and keeping them in an inactive form until needed. The Egyptian cobra, for instance, uses all these methods to stay safe. The video also humorously connects the concept of 'protection' to promoting Boot.dev, a platform for learning back-end web development, offering a fun and engaging way to acquire job-ready programming skills.
Takeaways
- 🐍 The Egyptian cobra's venom is extremely toxic, capable of killing large animals with just a small amount.
- 🔄 Many toxic animals have evolved to be immune to their own toxins by altering nerve proteins.
- 💧 Some animals, like the pitohui bird, produce proteins that neutralize their own toxins, acting like sponges.
- 🏠 Animals such as murder hornets and black widow spiders store their venom in isolated areas to prevent self-harm.
- 🔒 The slow loris stores its venom in an inactive form, only activating it when it comes into contact with saliva.
- 🛡️ The Egyptian cobra uses multiple strategies to protect itself from its own venom, including immune proteins and storing venom in isolated glands.
- 🛡️+💧 Cobras also have glands that temporarily inactivate their venom with acids, which only reactivate in a basic environment like blood.
- 🩸 In case of a venom leak, the cobra's bloodstream contains proteins that absorb the toxins before they can cause harm.
- 🐸 Multiple strategies are common in toxic species to ensure their safety, highlighting the complexity of their biological adaptations.
- 💻 The script ends with a sponsored message about Boot.dev, promoting learning back-end web development with gamified features.
Q & A
What makes the Egyptian cobra's venom so deadly?
-The Egyptian cobra's venom is super toxic, capable of killing relatively big animals even in tiny quantities.
How do poison dart frogs avoid harming themselves with their own poison?
-Poison dart frogs have evolved a slightly different version of the nerve protein that their poison targets, changing its shape just enough to prevent the poison from latching on.
What strategy does the pitohui bird use to protect itself from its own feathers' poison?
-The pitohui produces proteins in its bloodstream that act like sponges, sticking to and disarming poison molecules before they can harm the bird.
How do murder hornets and black widow spiders prevent their own venom from harming them?
-Murder hornets and black widow spiders store their venom in a place that is walled off from the rest of their body, making it physically impossible for them to unleash it on themselves.
What unique method does the slow loris use to keep itself safe from its own venom?
-The slow loris stores its toxins in an inactive form. The venom secreted from its armpits is harmless until it comes into contact with saliva, which activates it.
How many strategies does the Egyptian cobra use to protect itself from its own venom?
-The Egyptian cobra uses all four strategies to protect itself from its own venom: modified nerve proteins for immunity, venom stored in walled-off glands, temporary inactivation by acids, and sponge-like proteins in the bloodstream to mop up any leaked toxins.
What role do acids play in the Egyptian cobra's venom storage?
-The acids in the venom glands of the Egyptian cobra help to temporarily inactivate the venom, making it less harmful until it is introduced into a basic environment like a victim's blood.
How does the venom of the Egyptian cobra become re-activated?
-The venom of the Egyptian cobra becomes re-activated in a basic environment, such as the blood of its victims.
What is the significance of the sponge-like proteins in the Egyptian cobra's bloodstream?
-The sponge-like proteins in the Egyptian cobra's bloodstream act to mop up any toxins that might leak into the snake's blood, preventing harm to the snake itself.
What does the sponsor of the video, Boot.dev, offer to help individuals level up their careers?
-Boot.dev offers an easy way to learn back-end web development in languages like GO and Python, gamifying the learning process with XP, Levels, Achievements, and quests.
What discount does the sponsor, Boot.dev, offer to viewers of the video?
-Viewers can get 25% off their first month or their entire first year if they choose the annual plan by using the code MINUTEEARTH.
Outlines
🐍 How Toxic Animals Avoid Self-Poisoning
The paragraph discusses the mechanisms by which toxic animals like the Egyptian cobra avoid harming themselves despite carrying venomous substances within their bodies. It explains four strategies: 1) Developing nerve proteins that are resistant to their own toxins, as seen in poison dart frogs. 2) Producing proteins that neutralize their own venom, like the pitohui bird does. 3) Storing toxins in isolated compartments to prevent self-harm, as practiced by murder hornets and black widow spiders. 4) Keeping toxins in an inactive form until they are needed, such as the slow loris does with its venomous secretions. The Egyptian cobra is highlighted as an example of an animal using all these strategies to protect itself from its own venom.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Venom
💡Toxicity
💡Receptors
💡Proteins
💡Storage
💡Inactive Form
💡Immunity
💡Glands
💡Inactivation
💡Sponge-like Proteins
💡Boot.dev
Highlights
Egyptian cobra's venom is highly toxic to large animals.
Toxic animals need to produce and store venom without harming themselves.
Poison dart frogs have evolved nerve proteins that prevent their own poison from affecting them.
Pitohui birds produce proteins in their bloodstream that neutralize their own poison.
Murder hornets and black widow spiders store their venom in isolated areas to avoid self-harm.
Slow loris stores its venom in an inactive form until it comes into contact with saliva.
Toxic species often use multiple strategies to protect themselves from their own toxins.
Egyptian Cobra uses all four strategies to avoid harm from its venom.
The cobra's modified nerve proteins make it immune to its nerve-paralyzing toxin.
Venom is stored in walled-off glands in the cobra, preventing it from leaking into the body.
Glands temporarily inactivate the venom with acids until it reaches a basic environment.
Sponge-like proteins in the cobra's blood clean up any leaked venom.
Boot.dev offers a gamified learning platform for back-end web development.
Learn programming languages like GO and Python with Boot.dev's engaging system.
Earn XP, Levels, Achievements, and complete quests as you learn to code.
Boot.dev's system is designed to have you write a lot of code, emphasizing the importance of practice.
Use the code MINUTEEARTH for a 25% discount on your first month or annual plan with Boot.dev.
Transcripts
The Egyptian cobra’s venom is super toxic; even in tiny quantities it can
kill relatively-big animals. But the egyptian cobra – as well as pretty much every other
toxic animal – has to produce and store those deadly chemicals in its own body. So
why don’t toxic animals hurt themselves? Hi I'm Cameron, and this is MinuteEarth.
The first, and probably most obvious, way to avoid kicking your own bucket is to make sure
your poison doesn’t work on you, which is a strategy many poison dart frogs use. When
their poison gets on another critter, it snaps into specially-shaped receptors in that animal's
nerves, eventually stopping its heart. But the poison doesn't affect the frog itself, because the
frog has evolved a slightly different version of that nerve protein, changing its shape just enough
to prevent the poison from ever latching on. Another option is to have a way to soak up
your own poison before it can kill you, like the pitohui, a tropical bird that puts poison in its
feathers. In order to keep itself safe from its own poison, it produces proteins in its
bloodstream that act like sponges that stick to – and basically disarm – poison molecules.
The next strategy is even simpler: simply store your toxins in a place where they can’t hurt you,
like murder hornets and black widow spiders do. Both these animals are susceptible to their own
venom, but their weaponry is located in a place where it is walled off from the rest
of the body. And for them, it’s physically impossible to unleash it on themselves.
And finally, you could store your toxins in an inactive form, like the slow loris,
the world’s only venomous primate, does. The toxin the loris secretes from its armpits is completely
harmless on its own; it's only when the animal licks its armpit – putting the venom in contact
with saliva – that the venom becomes activated. And when the loris subsequently bites an enemy,
that venom gets transferred to the bite wound, where it causes the victim's flesh to rot away.
Because carrying deadly chemical weapons inside your own body is such a high-stakes situation,
lots of toxic species actually use more than one of these strategies to stay safe. Which brings us
back to the Egyptian Cobra, which uses all four methods to protect itself from its own venom.
The snake has those modified nerve proteins that make it immune to the nerve-paralyzing toxin in
its venom. But since that venom is a cocktail that contains other toxins too, the snake also stores
it in walled-off glands. Beyond just locking the venom away, these glands also temporarily
inactivate the venom in part by bathing it in acids; it only becomes re-activated in a basic
environment, like its victims' blood. And, if the venom happens to leak into the snake’s own blood,
sponge-like proteins in its bloodstream mop up the toxins before they do harm.
So, in other words, if you're going to be venomous – or poisonous – use protection.
If you’re a snake and you want to level up your game, you develop chemical weapons. And if you’re
a human and you want to level up your career, you develop, well, developer skills. Boot.dev,
which sponsored this video, has created an easy way to learn back-end web development in languages
like GO and Python - hey, another snake! They’ve gamified the whole learning process,
so as you learn to code, you’ll earn XP, Levels, Achievements, and even get to complete quests.
All the game features on Boot.dev are designed to keep you motivated and moving toward your goal:
job-ready programming skills. And all of this is within a system specially
designed to have you writing a TON of code, because, well, the best way to learn is by
doing. Click the link in the description and use the code MINUTEEARTH to get 25% off your
first month or even your entire first year if you choose the annual plan. Thanks Boot.dev!
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