November 23, 2024
Author(s): Rav Hazzan Aliza Berger,
Parashat Chayei Sara
The Healing of the Gila Monster
November 23, 2024 – 22 Cheshvan 5785
Temple Emanuel, Newton, MA
Last week, I came across a fascinating article in the New York Times Magazine. Kim Tingley, in her article “‘Nature’s Swiss Army Knife’: What can we Learn from Venom[1]?” writes about the incredible potential of highly toxic reptile and insect venom to provide pharmaceutical miracles. It turns out that reptile and inspect venom contains hundreds, even thousands of molecules, which each have the ability to act in powerful ways on the human body. In the aggregate, the venom can have disastrous consequences. But applied strategically and sparingly, these compounds can make a world of difference.
Take, for example, the wildly popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound. These drugs were created from research into a venomous reptile called the Gila monster which lives mostly underground in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. It’s a very striking lizard—typically they have a black head and matching black tongue, black legs, and a tiger-like pattern of orange and black down their back and tail. And they are highly toxic. If you Google them after shabbos, you’ll find a bunch of stories of people who have lost their lives to chance encounters on hiking trails or from bites from Gila monster pets.
Anyway, in the 80s there was this chemist named John Pisano who was obsessed with animal venom. He would find people in the classified section of the Washington Post who were willing to bring him their pet tarantulas and lizards for experimentation. As a result, he developed his own library of venoms including the venom of the Gila monster, and very generously shared venom samples with other scientists interested in exploring toxic potential. In the 90s, gastroenterologist Jean-Pierre Raufman teamed up with endocrinologist John Eng to study hormones that might affect the function of the pancreas. They began looking into the Gila monster because in addition to its striking appearance and super-dangerous venom, the Gila monster has this incredible ability to survive on just a few meals per year. As Tingley writes, they have a “glacial metabolism.” The Gila monster venom had been screened back in the 80s, but Raufman and Eng re-screened it and discovered a molecule that had been previously overlooked which resembled a hormone that regulates insulin in healthy humans. That molecule, which they called Exendin-4, is the basis for these weight-loss drugs which have so transformed the medical landscape.
Now here’s what’s so wild. Eng and Raufman found this incredible miracle molecule that would have a profoundly positive effect for so many people. They had the research to prove it. And yet, when they tried to patent the molecule, they couldn’t find anyone willing to work with them. Medicine from toxic venom? No one would help them[2]. So Eng patented the molecule himself and spent countless hours calling pharmaceutical companies trying to find one that would develop the molecule into a drug.
Spoiler alert: Eng licensed the patent to a start-up called Amylin Pharmaceuticals. In 2002, Eli Lilly and Company bought Amylin’s drug based on this molecule for $325 million. These drugs don’t just facilitate weight loss. They may also be able to mitigate cerebral inflammation that has been linked to diseases like Alzheimers and Parkinsons in addition to supporting heart and kidney function. Research is ongoing.
And you might say, ok, one drug comes from animal venom. Big deal. But Tingley’s article goes on to document so many other fascinating cases. There’s a hypertension medication that was created based on molecules found in the venom of a Brazilian viper, a medication to treat autoimmune diseases currently in clinical trials that owes its start to chemical compounds from sea-anemone, a chemical from cone-snails which is used as an analgesic approved by the FDA in 2004, and the coolest by far—a peptide from scorpion venom that binds itself to malignant tumors. They’re doing this research to pair the peptide with dyes that might aid in the surgical removal of tumors or even in designing a medication which could systematically destroy tumors without the need for chemo or radiation.
This research is really amazing on so many levels. To begin with, the fact that researchers thought to explore known toxins for healing properties is remarkable. Just the word ‘venom’ gives me the heebie jeebies. And then, the fact that known toxins have the potential to be elixirs of health—that is truly amazing.
Learning about this research and these medicines made me wonder—what would happen if we were able to look at the toxins in our lives with the same outlook? There is no universe where we would see all the misfortunes of our lives as helpful or even healing, but would it ever be possible to get to a place where we could see elements of the challenges in our lives as having blessed us with possibility?
Every year at our Passover Seder, my Dad used to tell a story about Dr. Bernie Siegel who had been invited to speak at a conference out of state. The day of the conference started out terribly for him. It was pouring rain. He was late getting out of the house and then got stuck in crazy traffic on the way to the airport. And then, as if things weren’t bad enough, just as the road began to clear, he got a flat tire. By the time he got to the airport he was soaked through, flecked with mud from the tread of passing cars, and very late. He arrived at the gate just as the plane took off.
He was furious. He tried to find another flight, but there was simply no way to get to the conference in time. He went home in the worst possible mood.
But that night, he heard the terrible news that the plane he was supposed to be on had crashed. If not for the rain and the traffic and the flat tire, he would not have survived. The next day, he took the flat tire to be bronzed and hung it above his fireplace as a reminder that things aren’t always what they seem to be.
Thank God plane crashes are not a part of our daily lived experience, but these kinds of stories definitely are. Every day, members share incredible stories with me of moments when what seemed like the worst outcome ended up protecting them or helping them in an unexpected way. I’ve heard stories from people who experienced a medical challenge that enabled them to support a loved one in need years later, stories about going to the wrong place but discovering someone there who changed the course of their life for the better, and stories about professional rejection that ended up creating a career path that was not only more lucrative, but also more enjoyable.
So where does this leave us? You might be thinking—ok, that’s great that venom can have healing properties, cool that not every misfortune is wholly bad, but what does that have to do with me and my life now?
If you ever recite Grace After Meals, then you’ve seen a gorgeous teaching hidden within plain sight. In the Harachaman section, we sing הָרַחֲמָן הוּא יְבָרֵךְ אוֹתִי וְאֶת אִשְׁתִּי וְאֶת זַרְעִי וְאֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לִי), אוֹתָנוּ וְאֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לָנוּ. כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּרְכוּ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקב, בַּכּל. מִכּל. כּל. כֵּן יְבָרֵךְ אוֹתָנוּ כֻּלָּנוּ יַחַד בִּבְרָכָה שְׁלֵמָה. וְנאמַר אָמֵן Compassionate One who has blessed me and my whole family and all that I own, just as you have blessed Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in everything, from everything, and through everything, please bless me and all those I love completely.
The Ein Yaakov[3], a 16th century commentator, explains the teaching hidden within this prayer. He points out that none of our ancestors had it easy. If you read the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you’ll see that each one endured countless trials and tribulations. They experienced physical and spiritual dislocation, war, interpersonal trauma, and loss. And yet, the Torah teaches specifically that they were blessed bakol, mikol, kol—in everything, from everything, and through everything.
In other words, blessings do not stem from a perfect, pain-free life. Blessings come when we can explore the venoms and toxins in our life for possibility. Sometimes the greatest healing comes directly from excavating the possibility in our greatest pain.
[1] Venom Helped Create Weight-Loss Drugs. What Else Could It Do For Us? – The New York Times
[2] The rise of Ozempic: how surprise discoveries and lizard venom led to a new class of weight-loss drugs
[3] https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov_(Glick_Edition)%2C_Bava_Batra.1.42