Snakebite affects millions of people each year. A new research project explores the conditions under which the jararaca pit viper of South America is most likely to lash out–and how this informs ...

Venom is a key adaptive innovation in snakes, and how nonvenom genes were co-opted to become part of the toxin arsenal is a significant evolutionary question. While this process has been investigated ...

Rutin, a flavonoid, may complement antivenom as an effective co-treatment for envenoming from Bothrops jaraca. Researchers have found that rutin, an inexpensive, plant-based compound may protect ...

Few places in the world are more dangerous than Ilha da Queimada Grande — the Brazilian island where venomous vipers rule the land and only a few researchers are ever allowed. Despite their fearsome ...

In an article published in PNAS, researchers affiliated with Butantan Institute describe the genome of Bothrops jararaca and suggest the origin of genes responsible for toxins in its venom. “In ...

A Brazilian biologist used an unusual method to study the biting behaviour of venomous snakes. João Miguel Alves-Nunes from the Butantan Research Centre in São Paulo, Brazil lightly kicked Jararaca ...

NO is generated in the citrulline–NO cycle by NO synthase (NOS) using L-arginine as a substrate. Three isoforms of NOS have been described: calcium-dependent endothelial (eNOS) and neuronal (nNOS) ...

The serpent that gave origin to all jararacas – the number 1 – must have arrived in South America between 11 million and 20 million years ago. Probably it came from Central America, moving from one ...

A group led by researchers at Butantan Institute and funded by São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP has completed the first sequencing of a Brazilian snake’s genome. The study is reported in an ...

After four years organizing a rare synthesis of information produced during many decades of fieldwork, biologist Cristiano Nogueira can finally say: “Now we can see clearly that the main threat to ...