Why Don't Snakes Poison Themselves?

Summary

This 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

00:00

🐍 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.

Keywords

💡Venom

Venom refers to a toxic substance produced by animals, typically used for defense or to immobilize and kill prey. In the context of the video, venom is the central theme, as it discusses how various toxic animals produce and store venom without harming themselves. The Egyptian cobra is highlighted as an example of an animal that uses venom to kill large animals.

💡Toxicity

Toxicity is the degree to which a substance can disrupt normal biological functions or cause damage to living organisms. The video script uses the concept of toxicity to explain the potency of venom and how even small amounts can be lethal to relatively big animals.

💡Receptors

Receptors are proteins on the surface of cells that receive signals from outside the cell and transmit them inside. In the video, receptors are mentioned in the context of how poison dart frogs' toxins interact with nerve receptors in other animals to stop their heart, but do not affect the frogs themselves due to differences in receptor shapes.

💡Proteins

Proteins are large biomolecules that play a crucial role in the structure, function, and regulation of the body's cells, tissues, and organs. The script discusses how certain animals, like the pitohui bird, produce proteins that act as sponges to neutralize their own toxins, preventing self-harm.

💡Storage

Storage in this context refers to the way animals keep their venom or toxins in a contained area within their bodies. The video uses storage as a strategy employed by animals like murder hornets and black widow spiders to keep their toxins in a place where they can't harm themselves.

💡Inactive Form

An inactive form of a substance is a state where it does not exert its usual effects or functions. The slow loris, mentioned in the video, stores its toxins in an inactive form under its armpits, which only become harmful when mixed with saliva during a bite.

💡Immunity

Immunity is a state of being resistant to a toxin or disease. The video explains how the Egyptian cobra has evolved to be immune to its own nerve-paralyzing toxin by having modified nerve proteins that prevent the venom from binding to its own receptors.

💡Glands

Glands are organs that secrete chemicals for use in the body or for discharge into the surroundings. The script describes how the Egyptian cobra stores its venom in walled-off glands, which also play a role in temporarily inactivating the venom.

💡Inactivation

Inactivation is the process of making something inactive or nonfunctional. The video mentions that the cobra's venom glands bathe the venom in acids, which inactivates it until it comes into contact with a basic environment like blood.

💡Sponge-like Proteins

Sponge-like proteins are proteins that can absorb or bind to other substances, similar to how a sponge absorbs liquid. The script uses this term to describe how proteins in the cobra's bloodstream act to mop up any leaked venom, preventing it from causing harm.

💡Boot.dev

Boot.dev is a platform for learning back-end web development, mentioned in the video as a sponsor. It uses gamification to make learning to code more engaging, with features like XP, Levels, Achievements, and quests. This keyword is related to the video's theme of 'leveling up' by developing skills, in this case, programming skills.

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!