Thanks for this, Sus! I did not know that about Gila monsters! It certainly has never been mentioned in anything I have read, although Gila monsters are very specific to the Sonoran Desert, so perhaps it was a bit too complicated to note the fact that this unique and amazing creature performed this service for humanity.
You're welcome, Nicky! I don't think it's too complicated to note the origins of Ozempic, I think we are just quite unaware of the fact that most of our pharmaceuticals come from living organisms of some sort, and we're just unconnected with nature in general. Which is why I do the work I do. And I wouldn't say that gila monsters performed a service for humanity, they just happened to to live lives that require them to get along without eating for long periods of time during the natural droughts in the desert, so they have a hormone that turns out to be useful in "turning off" the hunger circuits in brains, including human ones. :)
Susan, I had no idea - this is amazing. They say Prevagen was developed from something found in Jellyfish. It is time some of this money goes back into stabilizing our natural habitats. Thanks for this wake-up call.
Thank you for this reminder that nothing we have or use is totally self-made. We have derived our drugs, our food, and our materials for structures from nature. The origins of our daily materials and food are all dependent on our planet.
As a biologist I often pointed out to my students that even the most reviled organisms may in the future produce something that we need. Although I have to confess that I did not always understand this, it became more and more apparent to me as I practiced as a field biologist. I looked on rattlesnakes, for example, as important beings in their own right, but their gifts to us took a longer time to understand. A friend of mine and I were returning from a visit to Mount Palomar in California and as we drove down the paved highway down the mountain we spotted a Pacific Rattlesnake trying to cross this very busy roadway. By this point I had started to have some respect for these animals and this was a beauty. It must have been freshly shed. The pattern was absolutely wonderful. My friend and I discussed what to do briefly but then we got out of his car and finally got the rather irritated snake off the road. We just couldn't bear the thought of this magnificent animal being flattened by an uncaring or even vengeful motorist.
I later discovered that venoms of snakes have produced enough drugs and antivenoms to have our respect, even if we are at some level afraid of them or are disgusted by them (See: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6832721/. )
It was a great tragedy when part of the Butantan Institute in Brazil burned to the ground, taking with it their collection of venomous organisms on which they based their discovery of important chemicals, starting with antivenoms.
In short, there is a practical and scientific reason to have respect for all organisms from Gila Monsters to Slime Molds.It is a great pity that many of us don't see that.
Precisely, David, and thanks for all you've done to raise awareness. Great story about the Pacific Rattlesnake too! My mission with Practicing Terraphilia and my life is to remind us to respect all other lives, and to rekindle our connection with nature.
The Gila monster got my attention as we are both residents of Southern Nevada! There are Gila monsters in captivity here at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve for educational purposes (although I'm never a big fan of seeing caged animals), but I learned even more from your uplifting post. Thank you so much. A much-needed boost to my day!:-)
You are welcome, Michele! Gila monsters are amazing beings, aren't they? I am glad you know them from the desert there around Las Vegas, and while I'm with you on not being a fan of creatures in captivity, you are right that we do learn from them (and maybe learn to appreciate and respect them).
I was born in Arizona and aware of rattlesnakes, Gila monsters, and other beautiful but potentially deadly creatures from an early age because I came from a family who loved the outdoors. Thanks for sharing a story that gives hope.
Penny, isn't it a lift to think of this pharmaceutical chemist being motivated to give back to the world that has benefited his lucrative research in Big Pharma? That really gives me hope too. :)
Before we humans burn it all down, Mother Earth, I can hope that many decent humans like the research chemist take similar action. While somewhat a moral dilemma to look past what creatures may have succumbed from his past work, and only focus on his new efforts, the past is just that. Let us hope that his actions today appeal to others without the lure of money. I thank you Susan as always for your toil to educate all of us. 🙏🏽
Gary, the point of the story is that this pharmaceutical chemist is one example of the many people working in science to save endangered species, rebuild eroded soils, find solutions to warming and acidifying the oceans and so on. That work is slow and patient work that doesn't make the news very often. But when I see a story about it, I like to share it.
I don't think that any of his past work involved the extinction of any species: he's worked with Pacific yews and taxol, for instance, and in that work, the taxol was extracted from the yew trees and then synthesized in the lab. That's the usual path for finding substances in nature that work as human pharmaceuticals: the active organic compound is isolated in its natural form and then synthesized in the lab for mass production. That means that we're not clearcutting yew trees, for instance, we're harvesting branches and needles, extracting the active compound and then re-creating it in the lab. Blessings to you!
You have your ”ear to the ground” on a number of fascinating and informative topics, and aren’t selfish about sharing what you know. I thank you, Susan.
This is heartening, Susan. Off topic: How do I help my Christmas cactus heal (if that's what it needs) from broken or injured leaves near the soil, and are rooted, and even so, grow healthy leaves? Which leaves I do not wish to harm, of course. Is this typical? FYI: This plant was rescued from Home Depot, where it probably suffered these injuries. Thanks!
Linnea, I would guess that the broken leaves/stem segments near the soil are cuttings from the original plant. As long as they are rooted and growing new leaves/stem segments, I doubt they need healing. (It's very common to take a piece of a stem segment and root it to make a new plant.) You're welcome to send me a photo in email (info@susanjtweit.com) if that would help.
I was fascinated to learn that Gila monsters had been the source of the hormone developed into Ozempic. Now I want to see some of those huge profits used to protect the lizards and their desert habitat!
Cernak's inspiring pivot from Big Pharma to 'conservation chemistry' highlights our deep, reciprocal relationship with nature. So heart-warming! I love your newsletter, Susan! Thank you. It’s wonderful to contemplate 'the full circle thing.' In the words of T. S. Eliot, 'We shall not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time.' In essence, I intuit this is exactly what Cernak has achieved. I've added The Serviceberry to my wishlist, a book I read that resonates deeply with these times.
Deborah, Thank you for the reminder of T.S. Eliot's words. That last line says it all: "And know the place for the first time." That is practicing terraphilia: to explore this world of diverse lives and communities, to return home, and to see what we thought we understood anew. Blessings to you!
I always learn something from reading Practicing Terraphilia. I didn't know about the Gila monsters. Our species takes so easily without giving back. Fortunately, some humans do possess a conscience. Thank you, Susan, for this powerful information.
I think that the heart of terraphiia is understanding that the only way to be truly human is to have a reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world: to give back more than we take. If you've not read Robin Wall Kimmerer's work, especially her book Braiding Sweetgrass, I highly recommend it for her spiritual and scientific view of that concept.
This is one of the sweetest and most uplifting stories I've read in a long time. It brought tears to my eyes to think of this man applying his knowledge in earnest to help the nature that has so often helped humans live better lives. Thank you -- and great piece of learning about Gila Monsters! Who knew!? Biggest of hugs and much appreciation for the good work and the good writing you do in the world, Sus.
Stephanie, Your response is just why I wanted to share this story! Plus, how cool is it that Gila monsters' slow-paced and sustainable lives yielded one of our blockbuster medicines? (Now we just need to figure out how to get a share of the profits donated to conserving the lizards and their habitat.) Hugs and blessings back to you!
I agree. And to help mitigate climate change so that the Pacific yew trees who were the original source of taxol for cancer treatment don't go extinct in a warmer and drier climate, and so on. I may have to write more about this. Maybe a modest proposal is in order....
Thanks, Jill! You are exactly right about reciprocity. I think that working to conserve those species whose lives offer us gifts the way Tim Cernak decided to is a necessary kind of reciprocal action. We humans often are arrogant about thinking that the world of living beings "owes" us food and sustenance, medicine and materials, and that is not true. This earth does not need us, but we need the community of lives we share the planet with. If we can't learn to be truly reciprocal, I don't know that we'll survive. Which may sound gloomy, but it seems to me that it's just practical: reciprocal relationships last.
I often mention Robin's work in my posts. Her understanding of science, spirituality, and reciprocity has been very influential in my work. Have you read her previous books, Gathering Moss and Braiding Sweetgrass? Both are outstanding.
I confess I've read most everything she has written. Including the original essay about Serviceberry that led to the new book. Her influence on my own work has been profound.
Ditto here. And as a bonus, she is a lovely person too. I had the pleasure of speaking at a conference where she was the keynote, and ended up sitting on a bench outside a bakery one morning talking with Robin and Kathleen Dean Moore. What a joy that conversation was!
Thanks for this, Sus! I did not know that about Gila monsters! It certainly has never been mentioned in anything I have read, although Gila monsters are very specific to the Sonoran Desert, so perhaps it was a bit too complicated to note the fact that this unique and amazing creature performed this service for humanity.
You're welcome, Nicky! I don't think it's too complicated to note the origins of Ozempic, I think we are just quite unaware of the fact that most of our pharmaceuticals come from living organisms of some sort, and we're just unconnected with nature in general. Which is why I do the work I do. And I wouldn't say that gila monsters performed a service for humanity, they just happened to to live lives that require them to get along without eating for long periods of time during the natural droughts in the desert, so they have a hormone that turns out to be useful in "turning off" the hunger circuits in brains, including human ones. :)
Reciprocity.
Way beyond transactional.
Virtuous spirals, loops.
Beautifully said, Marisol! I especially like the image of spirals and loops.
Susan, I had no idea - this is amazing. They say Prevagen was developed from something found in Jellyfish. It is time some of this money goes back into stabilizing our natural habitats. Thanks for this wake-up call.
Exactly! And some appreciation goes into all that we benefit from via other organisms. That's my mission with this writing and my life. :)
Thank you for this reminder that nothing we have or use is totally self-made. We have derived our drugs, our food, and our materials for structures from nature. The origins of our daily materials and food are all dependent on our planet.
As a biologist I often pointed out to my students that even the most reviled organisms may in the future produce something that we need. Although I have to confess that I did not always understand this, it became more and more apparent to me as I practiced as a field biologist. I looked on rattlesnakes, for example, as important beings in their own right, but their gifts to us took a longer time to understand. A friend of mine and I were returning from a visit to Mount Palomar in California and as we drove down the paved highway down the mountain we spotted a Pacific Rattlesnake trying to cross this very busy roadway. By this point I had started to have some respect for these animals and this was a beauty. It must have been freshly shed. The pattern was absolutely wonderful. My friend and I discussed what to do briefly but then we got out of his car and finally got the rather irritated snake off the road. We just couldn't bear the thought of this magnificent animal being flattened by an uncaring or even vengeful motorist.
I later discovered that venoms of snakes have produced enough drugs and antivenoms to have our respect, even if we are at some level afraid of them or are disgusted by them (See: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6832721/. )
It was a great tragedy when part of the Butantan Institute in Brazil burned to the ground, taking with it their collection of venomous organisms on which they based their discovery of important chemicals, starting with antivenoms.
In short, there is a practical and scientific reason to have respect for all organisms from Gila Monsters to Slime Molds.It is a great pity that many of us don't see that.
Precisely, David, and thanks for all you've done to raise awareness. Great story about the Pacific Rattlesnake too! My mission with Practicing Terraphilia and my life is to remind us to respect all other lives, and to rekindle our connection with nature.
The Gila monster got my attention as we are both residents of Southern Nevada! There are Gila monsters in captivity here at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve for educational purposes (although I'm never a big fan of seeing caged animals), but I learned even more from your uplifting post. Thank you so much. A much-needed boost to my day!:-)
You are welcome, Michele! Gila monsters are amazing beings, aren't they? I am glad you know them from the desert there around Las Vegas, and while I'm with you on not being a fan of creatures in captivity, you are right that we do learn from them (and maybe learn to appreciate and respect them).
This is so cool!
Isn't it? Reading Emily Anthes' article gave me a real lift. :)
So good to recognize the power of the heart!
Love is amazingly powerful and lasting too. :)
Here is something positive in a negative world . . . love reading your news.
Thanks, Karen! And I especially appreciate the re-stack. :)
I was born in Arizona and aware of rattlesnakes, Gila monsters, and other beautiful but potentially deadly creatures from an early age because I came from a family who loved the outdoors. Thanks for sharing a story that gives hope.
Penny, isn't it a lift to think of this pharmaceutical chemist being motivated to give back to the world that has benefited his lucrative research in Big Pharma? That really gives me hope too. :)
Before we humans burn it all down, Mother Earth, I can hope that many decent humans like the research chemist take similar action. While somewhat a moral dilemma to look past what creatures may have succumbed from his past work, and only focus on his new efforts, the past is just that. Let us hope that his actions today appeal to others without the lure of money. I thank you Susan as always for your toil to educate all of us. 🙏🏽
Gary, the point of the story is that this pharmaceutical chemist is one example of the many people working in science to save endangered species, rebuild eroded soils, find solutions to warming and acidifying the oceans and so on. That work is slow and patient work that doesn't make the news very often. But when I see a story about it, I like to share it.
I don't think that any of his past work involved the extinction of any species: he's worked with Pacific yews and taxol, for instance, and in that work, the taxol was extracted from the yew trees and then synthesized in the lab. That's the usual path for finding substances in nature that work as human pharmaceuticals: the active organic compound is isolated in its natural form and then synthesized in the lab for mass production. That means that we're not clearcutting yew trees, for instance, we're harvesting branches and needles, extracting the active compound and then re-creating it in the lab. Blessings to you!
You have your ”ear to the ground” on a number of fascinating and informative topics, and aren’t selfish about sharing what you know. I thank you, Susan.
I'm a botanist, so if it's something that involves plants, I am probably interested and have read at least a little about it! :)
This is heartening, Susan. Off topic: How do I help my Christmas cactus heal (if that's what it needs) from broken or injured leaves near the soil, and are rooted, and even so, grow healthy leaves? Which leaves I do not wish to harm, of course. Is this typical? FYI: This plant was rescued from Home Depot, where it probably suffered these injuries. Thanks!
Linnea, I would guess that the broken leaves/stem segments near the soil are cuttings from the original plant. As long as they are rooted and growing new leaves/stem segments, I doubt they need healing. (It's very common to take a piece of a stem segment and root it to make a new plant.) You're welcome to send me a photo in email (info@susanjtweit.com) if that would help.
I think I will just care for the plant as I normally would. Then if need be, I can take cuttings and re-root them. Thank you so much!
You are so welcome. :)
Uplifting, indeed! Thank you!
I was fascinated to learn that Gila monsters had been the source of the hormone developed into Ozempic. Now I want to see some of those huge profits used to protect the lizards and their desert habitat!
Cernak's inspiring pivot from Big Pharma to 'conservation chemistry' highlights our deep, reciprocal relationship with nature. So heart-warming! I love your newsletter, Susan! Thank you. It’s wonderful to contemplate 'the full circle thing.' In the words of T. S. Eliot, 'We shall not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time.' In essence, I intuit this is exactly what Cernak has achieved. I've added The Serviceberry to my wishlist, a book I read that resonates deeply with these times.
Deborah, Thank you for the reminder of T.S. Eliot's words. That last line says it all: "And know the place for the first time." That is practicing terraphilia: to explore this world of diverse lives and communities, to return home, and to see what we thought we understood anew. Blessings to you!
I always learn something from reading Practicing Terraphilia. I didn't know about the Gila monsters. Our species takes so easily without giving back. Fortunately, some humans do possess a conscience. Thank you, Susan, for this powerful information.
I think that the heart of terraphiia is understanding that the only way to be truly human is to have a reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world: to give back more than we take. If you've not read Robin Wall Kimmerer's work, especially her book Braiding Sweetgrass, I highly recommend it for her spiritual and scientific view of that concept.
I will look for her book! Thank you for the recommendation.
This is one of the sweetest and most uplifting stories I've read in a long time. It brought tears to my eyes to think of this man applying his knowledge in earnest to help the nature that has so often helped humans live better lives. Thank you -- and great piece of learning about Gila Monsters! Who knew!? Biggest of hugs and much appreciation for the good work and the good writing you do in the world, Sus.
Stephanie, Your response is just why I wanted to share this story! Plus, how cool is it that Gila monsters' slow-paced and sustainable lives yielded one of our blockbuster medicines? (Now we just need to figure out how to get a share of the profits donated to conserving the lizards and their habitat.) Hugs and blessings back to you!
Seems to me that it would be fair of Big Pharma and humane even, to donate to wildlife habitat! Just sayin’ . . .
I agree. And to help mitigate climate change so that the Pacific yew trees who were the original source of taxol for cancer treatment don't go extinct in a warmer and drier climate, and so on. I may have to write more about this. Maybe a modest proposal is in order....
This adds another dimension to reciprocity! Interesting to learn about the gila monster and Dr. Cernak's work.
Thanks, Jill! You are exactly right about reciprocity. I think that working to conserve those species whose lives offer us gifts the way Tim Cernak decided to is a necessary kind of reciprocal action. We humans often are arrogant about thinking that the world of living beings "owes" us food and sustenance, medicine and materials, and that is not true. This earth does not need us, but we need the community of lives we share the planet with. If we can't learn to be truly reciprocal, I don't know that we'll survive. Which may sound gloomy, but it seems to me that it's just practical: reciprocal relationships last.
This echoes with the book I am reading. Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer. It's about the gift economy which nature can teach us.
I often mention Robin's work in my posts. Her understanding of science, spirituality, and reciprocity has been very influential in my work. Have you read her previous books, Gathering Moss and Braiding Sweetgrass? Both are outstanding.
I confess I've read most everything she has written. Including the original essay about Serviceberry that led to the new book. Her influence on my own work has been profound.
Ditto here. And as a bonus, she is a lovely person too. I had the pleasure of speaking at a conference where she was the keynote, and ended up sitting on a bench outside a bakery one morning talking with Robin and Kathleen Dean Moore. What a joy that conversation was!
To have eavesdropped on that discussion!