Deadly spider might hold key to a cure for melanoma

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I know many think Australia is full of deadly creatures. I’ve stopped trying to tell people it’s not that bad. That way, we can keep our lovely country to ourselves. But now there is news that one of our deadliest creatures might have a role to play in killing certain cancer cells. The Australian funnel-web spider is among the most deadly arachnids in the world. Researchers have been able to extract a compound of the Darling Downs funnel webs’ venom which can kill melanoma cancer cells and stop them spreading. Even better, the peptide extracted has been found to be very effective in treating Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), a cancer which is slowly wiping out Tasmania’s population of Tasmanian devils. At present there is no known cure for the contagious transmissible cancer which causes tumours to grow inside the face or mouth of the devils. The particular spider can be found in southern Queensland, most commonly on rainforest-covered mountain ranges and along the gullies of rivers and creeks flowing off these ranges. Maybe they’ll find something good about our crocodiles one day. As I know spiders freak out some readers, I'll attach a photo of a devil.