Epipedobates tricolor (Poison Dart Frog)

The Epipedobates tricolor, shown on the cover, is one of many species of "poison dart" frogs found in the jungles of South America. A compound included in the poisonous cocktail of chemicals excreted from the glands on the back of this Ecuadorian frog provided a decisive clue for the discovery of one of the most powerful painkillers known. The compound, aptly named epibatidine in honor of the frog, blocks pain 200 times more effectively than morphine. In the United States alone, 30-40 million people, many of them cancer patients, depend on morphine, risking side effects that include breathing impairment and addiction.

However, epibatidine was found to be too toxic for humans. Researchers used epibatidine as a model compound on which to base chemical syntheses of similar pain-killing activity without the toxicity. After extensive screening and testing on animals, one compound, known as ABT-594, was shown to have the same analgesic qualities as epibatidine without being toxic or addictive. This potentially revolutionary pain-killing drug is now in early testing on humans in Europe.

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