The
Virginia opossum (
2nd image of baby, adult here) native to
North America is not nearly as cute as the
common ringtail possum (
1st image of babies, adult here) of Australia, although they are both nocturnal marsupials with
prehensile tails. But the
American variety (
Didelphis virginiana) of the 100+ species of opossum* has a special distinction. It was found to produce a protein known as Lethal Toxin-Neutralizing Factor (LTNF), which seeks and neutralizes poisons of all kinds that enter the opossum's body. The protein even made it immune to poisons from
snakes on other continents to which it had not been
previously exposed. A paper published in
The Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins
showed that mice injected with the LTNF protein could survive being
subjected to venom from deadly creatures including Thailand cobras,
Australian taipans, Brazilian rattlesnakes, and scorpions. When the mice
that survived the venom were then exposed to deadly poisons like ricin
and botulinum toxin, the LTNF protein was able to diffuse it, leaving
the mice unharmed. The findings suggest that "
Thus, natural LTNF from opossum serum has potential as a universal therapy for envenomation caused by animals, plants and bacteria." In other words, "
Opossums may someday provide an antidote to nearly all forms of poison, including everything from snakebites to ricin." Oddly enough, that
someday should have been
yesterday. The paper was published in 1999...
*
The name of this animal can be spelled either "opossum" or "possum" and can be pronounced either way.
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