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Although they are frightening, vicious and dangerous, the deadly creatures namely scorpions carry in their tails a healing liquid that could be used for pharmaceutical and medical research. In fact scorpions’ venom is highly used by researches who conduct drugs and cancer experiments, but the venom extraction remains dangerous and traditional.
However, this wouldn’t be an obstacle anymore, as Mouad Mkamel, a Moroccan researcher from Ben Msik Hassan II University in Casablanca designed one of the safest scorpion-milking devices up-to-date. According to Inverse, an American online magazine geared to young millennial men, the robot VES-4 is a new way of extracting venom from scorpions without harming both sides, scientist and animal.
A safe extraction
«This robot makes venom recovery fast and safe», announced Mouad Mkamel who worked with a group of researcher from the Hassan II university to create the device. For Mouad «the extraction of scorpion venom is a very difficult task and usually takes at least two experimenters» adding that «there are numerous risks including potentially deadly scorpion stings and electric shocks from the stimulators used to extract the venom». Indeed, scorpion-milking can be maintained through two main methods, the first is manual while the second relies on electric stimulation and maceration.
According to Mkamel both current extraction techniques could be harmful to the animal and researcher too. For that sake he pointed out that VES-4 «is designed to extract scorpion venom without harming the animal and to provide more safety for the experimenters».
The new device is meant to guarantee the safety and efficiency of the extraction process, as reported by the same source, VES-4 milkes scorpions by clamping the tail and electrically stimulating the animal express droplets of venom without harming it. Mkamel stated that the device «could be used by one person using a remote control to safely recover scorpion venom remotely», it is also easily maintained in field and lab. Once assuring extraction, the robot carries the liquid through a tube and collects it in an Eppendrof tube below the scorpion.
Inverse also indicates that «the robot can be programmed for different sizes of scorpions, and then operated with a remote control. An LED screen also displays information about the type of scorpion».
