Venomous animals have evolved a diversity of toxins to incapacitate prey and defend against predators. Many of these toxins have become valuable tools in basic and biomedical research and have been developed as drug leads, drugs, and diagnostic agents.

Predatory marine cone snails produce a vast array of small bioactive peptides, termed conopeptides or conotoxins, that mostly target the prey’s nervous and locomotor systems by rapidly inducing dangerously low blood glucose, thereby facilitating prey capture. Fish exposed to the released venoms appear to be under the influence of narcotic drugs, which led to the term “nirvana cabal” to describe this group of toxins.

One component within the venom is found to mimic a human hormone called somatostatin, which regulates the levels of blood sugar and various hormones in the body, preventing the levels of blood sugar, various hormones, and many other important molecules from rising dangerously high.

The cone snail toxin, known as consomatin, functions similarly, but is more stable and specific than the human hormone, making it a promising model for drug design.