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How a venomous lizard, the Gila Monster’s saliva, led to one of the biggest scientific discoveries to reduce food appetite in the human body.
Scientists took the Gila Monster’s venom and built a drug replicating the hormonal activities. (Photo Credit: Instagram)
A science fanatic highlighted a fascinating story related to the Gila Monster, a venomous lizard that has played a part in saving humanity. In a viral clip, the man spoke extensively about the lizard native to the deserts of Arizona in the US and Mexico. The man then directed viewers to the life cycle and reproduction details about the lizard based on its Wikipedia page, which says “the male initiates courtship by flicking his tongue to search for the female’s scent.”
“If the female rejects his advances, she will bite him and chase him away. When successful, copulation has been observed in captivity to last from 15 minutes to two and a half hours.”
In 1992, biologists discovered that the Gila Monster’s saliva contains the expendin-4, a structural analogue of human GLP-1. However, it has a much longer half-life. A synthetic preparation of expendin-4 is called exenatide, which is considered suitable for human use and lowers glucose levels of the body – a potential game-changer for weight loss in ambulant type 2 diabetic patients.
Science Video On How A Lizard Solved Weight Issues
“Some background, the Gila Monster lives in the desert and the food is not always easily available to it. So it has evolved a remarkable metabolism, where it can eat once and then fast for months,” says Krish Alok, who posted the viral video on how a venomous lizard’s saliva could fix the world’s weight loss problem. The man alluded to studies that claim this lizard is capable of surviving through while eating only four to five times a year.
When this unique trait of the Gila Monster stunned the biologists, they dug deep into a study on expendin-4. The expendin-4 triggers a very specific receptor in the pancreas of the venomous lizard. Over the next few years, the scientists also discovered that this exendin is structurally similar to a hormone found in the human body when it consumes food.
“That hormone encourages the body to release insulin, slows down the stomach emptying and signals to the brain that you’ve eaten enough food,” Alok said. Crucially, this hormone also tells the human liver not to produce any more glucose.
Drug Made Based On Gila Monster’s Venom
13 years later, after advanced research on the subject, scientists took the Gila Monster’s venom and built a drug replicating the activity of the hormone found in the body for effective glucose production. It paved the path for the birth of the drug exenatide, produced from the Gila Monster’s venom. The drug was approved in 2005 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA. The exenatide became the world’s first GLP-1 drug, meant for the treatment of type 2 diabetic patients.
There was one problem. The effect of the GLP-1 drug lasted for a very short time before it was destroyed by an enzyme called DPP-4. Patients had to take the drug frequently for lasting benefits. The challenge for scientists then was how to ensure the artificial version of GLP-1 lasts longer in the human body.
After studying the issue, scientists changed the amino acid in the vulnerable spot that the enzyme DDP-4 targeted and made the molecule larger by attaching a fatty acid to make it harder for the kidney to filter the drug out of the blood. They also designed a different mechanism for slower consumption or release of the drug. After 30 years of work, we have today a GLP-1 drug that lasts long enough to reduce the human body’s appetite.
A team of writers at News18.com bring you stories on what’s creating the buzz on the Internet while exploring science, cricket, tech, gender, Bollywood, and culture.
A team of writers at News18.com bring you stories on what’s creating the buzz on the Internet while exploring science, cricket, tech, gender, Bollywood, and culture.
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Delhi, India, India
September 13, 2025, 08:00 IST
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