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French researchers have discovered potent painkilling peptides from an unlikely source—the venom of black mamba snakes (Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature11494). The peptides, which relieve pain in mice as powerfully as morphine does, act by a mechanism different from that of available painkillers. The discovery could help researchers expand the legions of painkillers, which currently rely heavily on opioids that carry side effects and potential for abuse. Sylvie Diochot, Anne Baron, and colleagues at the Institute of Molecular & Cellular Pharmacology near Nice isolated the peptides, which they named mambalgins. The mambalgins appeal as leads for pain drugs because, unlike morphine, they don’t cause respiratory complications, Baron says. Through studies using knockout mice, her team found that the peptides relieve pain by blocking acid-sensing ion channels in the skin and central nervous system. Although scientists have known that this family of channels plays a role in pain pathways, Baron says, none of ...