With a circulation of 1.2 million, Discover is among the 50 best-read magazines in the United States. Schwerin is particularly interested in Young s research in venom injection. Not many people are studying venom injection. He told me it s almost as if snakes are thinking and assessing their prey and deciding how much venom to use. The more we know about the behavior of snakes, the better.
Education inspires fascination.
The anatomical studies we have performed suggest that venom flow through the venom delivery system could be influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. I m currently examining the relationship between external forces and venom flow. National Geographic filmed Young performing microsurgery on rattlesnakes, a continuation of research that Blair and Zahn performed last year with Young. During the surgery they implant a number of wires, each finer than a human hair, into the muscles responsible for venom flow. The wires enable Young to record the electrical activity of the muscle.