Pufferfish are famous for containing one of the most potent natural toxins known: tetrodotoxin. But what would happen if a massive whale swallowed a poisonous pufferfish? This video dives into the ...

Opioids remain a mainstay of treatment for chronic and surgical pain, despite their side effects and risk for addiction and overdose. While conventional local anesthetics block pain very effectively, ...

The neurotoxin tetrodotoxin has been found for the first time in two species living out of water. Tetrodotoxin is a potent paralysis-inducing neurotoxin found in a multitude of aquatic organisms, but ...

A quicker way of making one of the world’s most potent neurotoxins could lead to novel drugs for pain relief and to a better understanding of how the body’s pain system works. Tetrodotoxin (or TTX) is ...

Some newts living in the western United States are poisonous, perhaps thanks to bacteria living on their skin. Tetrodotoxin, or TTX, prevents nerve cells from sending signals that tell muscles to move ...

Alternatives to opioids for treating pain are sorely needed. A study in rats suggests that tetrodotoxin, properly packaged, offers a potentially safe pain block. Opioids remain a mainstay of treatment ...

Cancer is awful. And treatments for cancer, including chemotherapy, can be incredibly painful. Even the treatments for the pain, usually opioids like morphine, can be debilitating, with side effects ...

This article originally appeared in Knowable Magazine. From the brightly colored poison frogs of South America to the prehistoric-looking newts of the Western US, the world is filled with beautiful, ...

Opioids remain a mainstay of treatment for chronic and surgical pain, despite their side effects and risk for addiction and overdose. While conventional local anesthetics block pain very effectively, ...