Venom vs. poison: What's the difference? - Rose Eveleth

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Would you rather be bitten by a venomous rattlesnake or touch a poisonous dart frog? While both of these animals are capable of doing some serious damage to the human body, they deliver their dangerous toxins in different ways. Rose Eveleth sheds light on the distinction between poison and venom (and why you shouldn't treat either one like you've seen in the movies).

Lesson by Rose Eveleth, animation by TED-Ed.

Would you rather be bitten

by a venomous snake or touch a poisonous frog?

Wait, what's the difference

between poison and venom, anyway?

Let's say you have the misfortune

to be bitten by a venomous rattlesnake.

When it bites you,

the snake will eject venom

from little sacs behind its eyes,

through its hollow fangs and into your flesh.

That venom will then travel through your bloodstream

and all over your body.

In most cases, snake venom contains neurotoxins,

proteins that can do all sorts of nasty stuff

like make your muscles fire uncontrollably,

burst your blood cells,

and make you go completely numb.

But you might get lucky!

Snakes don't always decide

you're worth wasting venom on.

In fact, between 20 and 80% of snake bites

are so-called "dry bites,"

where the snake is just trying

to send a message without actually killing you.

You see, venom takes energy and resources

for the snake to make,

and they don't want to waste it on a warning shot.

When it comes to poison,

on the other hand,

there's no warning shot.

If you pick up a poisonous dart frog

to admire its beautiful colors,

you've already gotten deadly poison

all over your hands.

As it seeps into your skin

and travels through your blood,

the poison starts to interfere with your nerves,

preventing your muscles from contracting.

If the frog's poison reaches your heart,

it can cause it to stop.

The distinction between venom and poison

is purely in the method of delivery.

Poison has to be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed.

Venom has to be injected into a wound.

Chemically, venoms and poisons

are both considered toxins,

so a snake bite is venomous.

A poison dart frog is poisonous.

Brown recluse spiders are venomous.

Lionfish and pufferfish are poisonous.

And some compounds can be poisons in one animal

and venoms in another.

Tetrodotoxin, a chemical 10,000 times more toxic than cyanide,

is found in pufferfish,

where it makes them poisonous.

It's also found in the deadly blue-ringed octopus,

where it's a venom delivered by bite.

Some animals can even be both poisonous and venomous.

Take the Asian tiger snake, for example.

Not only does it have venom in its fangs

but it also absorbs the toxins

from the poisonous toads it eats,

and then secretes those toxins

from special glands on its neck,

rendering it poisonous, too.

Scientists are constantly finding new animals

that employ toxins in weird, interesting ways.

Recently, researchers discovered

the very first venomous crustacean.

Out of 70,000 species of crustaceans,

only this one little remipede is venomous.

Speleonectes tulumensis has figured out

how to create a cocktail of toxins

that it delivers through its tiny fangs.

Scientists aren't totally sure how this venom works yet,

but they think that it causes the unwitting victims' neurons

to fire over and over and over again

until it becomes paralyzed.

Then, the little remipede closes in,

dissolving away the exoskeleton of its prey

and sucking out the juices.

But poisons and venoms aren't always all bad.

For thousands of years, humans have looked for

ways to harness the power of these toxic compounds for good.

Today, we have all sorts of medicines

that come from toxins.

The poison from cone snails is used as a painkiller.

Many poisonous plants have been used

to treat everything from malaria to irregular heartbeats.

And scorpion venom might one day be used

to treat heart disease.

So, what should you do if something bites or poisons you?

Don't try any of the things you've seen

on the internet or in movies!

Don't try to capture and kill the animal

that bit you,

and don't use a tourniquet or knife on your wound.

Most importantly, don't panic!

Stay calm, and seek medical attention.

Treatment will mostly depend

on what species you encountered.

But if you forget the distinction

between poison and venom,

and tell the parademics

that you were poisoned by a viper,

they'll probably forgive you and treat you anyway.