The Burmese python's genome study sheds light on how these snakes evolved and how they can eat someone their size. Researchers believe that their findings will pave the way for improved medical treatment for humans.
The Burmese python is one the five largest snakes in the world which is commonly found in Southern and Southeast Asia. They usually dwell near the water but were also spotted hanging on trees. They can grow as long as 12-feet up to 19 feet.
Researchers from the University of Texas at Arlington College of Science led by Biology Prof. Todd Castoe did a collaborative work on analyzing the genome of the Southeast Asian snake. They were amazed on how this snake can eat someone its size which other animals can't do.
"We'd like to know how the snake uses genes we all have to do things that no other vertebrates can do," Castoe said in an interview with AFP.
To give you an idea how the Burmese python eat someone its size: its jaws and head can enlarge allowing it to swallow its prey. Its internal organs such as the heart, liver, kidneys and small intestines also expand three times their normal size to accommodate the digestion process of meals as large as a deer. However, these organs shrink back to their original sizes once the digestion process is completed.
Based on the research analysis, the genome of the Burmese python give clues to the complex interactions and adaptations of its genes, proteins and genome structure that enable these great predators to have amazing capabilities compared to other animals carrying the same type of genes.
According to researchers, the snakes have undergone major changes from physiological to molecular as part of its survival mechanism in its changing environment. They have evolved several times during its 5-30 million years of evolutionary existence.
"Their morphology has changed, their physiology, their metabolism, and their genes, their genomes have changed to match. So that is a pretty neat finding," said Prof. David Pollock, co-author and a Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics Associate Professor at the University Of Colorado School Of Medicine.
Researchers believe that their genome analysis can allow other studies to better understand human ailments such as ulcers, organ failure and other metabolic disorders. There may be molecular mechanisms that are yet to discover which can probably help in dramatically increasing the metabolic rate, shutting down the acid production, improving intestinal function, and rapidly increasing the size of its heart, intestine, pancreas, liver, and kidneys.
The study was published in the Dec. 2 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences.
***Updated to correct spelling errors and wordings.
