How a Desert Lizard Saved Thousands of Lives

A lizard that can wait months without eating sparked a breakthrough in medicine. Scientists noticed the Gila monster keeps its blood sugar steady during long fasts, and a researcher at a Veterans Affairs hospital isolated a venom component that mimics a human gut hormone but lasts much longer. Years later, this molecule became the first drug in a new class that now treats diabetes and obesity, and may help with heart disease. The discovery cost almost nothing but has saved or could save tens of thousands of lives each year. Today, the funding system that turned this lizard into medicine is being weakened. In 2025, a federal administration froze or cut billions of research grants. Courts released some money and Congress stopped further cuts, yet the agencies still award fewer grants each month than before.A new rule would let political appointees approve federal grants only if they “demonstrably advance the president’s policy priorities, ” which could slow research even more. The result is fewer students entering graduate programs and researchers struggling to secure funding. A cancer scientist recently said her chances of getting money for a promising drug combo for children with brain tumors are almost zero. When scientists lose support, odd questions go unanswered. History shows that exploring strange ideas drives medical progress: a sample of soil from Easter Island led to rapamycin, used to prevent organ rejection; bacteria in yogurt gave rise to CRISPR gene editing, now correcting diseases like sickle cell and even rewriting a lethal mutation in a baby. If we cut back on curiosity‑driven research, many of these life‑saving advances may never happen.