Shrew's spit to tame pain


CP; CanWest News Service


February 21, 2005


Jack Stewart, a biochemistry professor at Mount Allison University in
Sackville, N.B., and his team of researchers have discovered a compound
in shrew spit that holds promise for pain control and cancer treatment.
The substance, a protein Stewart has named soricidin, after the shrew
family Soricidae, is about to be put through intensive animal testing
and development. Soricidin's properties could make it useful in treating
migraines, facial pain, neuromuscular diseases, and even wrinkles.

C The Gazette (Montreal) 2005



Selected Recent Publications

Stewart, J.M., Vernes, K. and Steeves, B.J. 2004. Paralytic peptide for
use in neuromuscular therapy. Filed with the United States Patent and
Trademark Office in the USA and at the Canadian Receiving Office of the
Patent Cooperation Treaty, and the European Patent Office. Published by
EPO June 3, 2004.

http://www.mta.ca/faculty/science/bio/johnstewart.html