Luke O'Neill
speaker
4,222 appearances
22 recordings
2 series
first heard Apr 2026
last heard 10 Sep
Luke O'Neill’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 22 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 6.
Appearances
The second thing venom has is an enzyme called phospholipase A2, PLA2 for short.
Now, that was the very first thing I worked on as an undergrad biochemist back in 1985.
Can you believe it?
I worked on the enzyme phospholipase A2.
What does it do?
It clips off fats in your cells and releases things called prostaglandins and leukotrienes.
So we have it ourselves.
Our own bodies have phospholipase A2 to make these things called prostaglandins.
And lo and behold, it's in the wasp venom as well.
And it chops up these little fats, these things called phospholipids, releasing things called prostaglandins and leukotrienes.
Now, there are two factors that again cause the pain and the inflammation.
So already you're triggering this inflammatory response.
And again, they make nerve endings worse.
sting as well and sore.
And so phospholipidase 2 is a key component in wasp venom.
And then an enzyme, another enzyme called hyaluronidase, that breaks down hyaluronic acid.
And again, that's causing things to be made that drive inflammation.
And then finally, proteases.
they're enzymes that chop up proteins.
And some of these proteins, they get chopped up.
Showing 61–80 of 4,222 · page 4 of 212
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