Could humans ever be venomous? | Live Science
Could humans ever evolve venom? It’s highly unlikely that people will join rattlesnakes and platypuses among the ranks of venomous animals, but new research reveals that humans do have the tool kit to produce venom in fact, all reptiles and mammals do.
This collection of flexible genes, particularly associated with the salivary glands in humans, explains how venom has evolved independently from nonvenomous ancestors more than 100 times in the animal kingdom.
“Essentially, we have all the building blocks in place,” said study co-author Agneesh Barua, a doctoral student in evolutionary genetics at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Japan. “Now it’s up to evolution to take us there.”
How do you explain venomous people then?