Sunday, March 15, 2015
Viper
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Back in 2011, I found a snake whose venom became the drug captopril. Only recently did I find out another snake, the southeastern pygmy rattlesnake has a venom peptide that acts as an anticoagulant. To physicians, this molecule is known as eptifibatide, and it's commonly used in the treatment of heart attacks. For whatever reason, I've always had a fascination for the unique inventions of nature, and it astounds me that a drug that we use to save lives, which costs thousands of dollars, is made by snakes to kill. It's a weird and awe-inspiring thought.
In ancient Greece, the asclepion was a healing temple dedicated to Asclepius, the God of Medicine. Asclepius learned the art of surgery from the centaur Chiron and had the ability to raise the dead. The Rod of Asclepius is a roughhewn branch entwined with a single serpent.
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Hi! I am Craig Chen, a third year resident physician in anesthesiology at Stanford Hospitals and Clinics. I went to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. Prior to medical school, I studied philosophy and biology at Stanford University, along with a minor in creative writing.
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