d in 2001 showed that α-linolenic acid prevents ventricular fibrillation and reduces platelet aggregation (19). The FDA has also shown interest in snails. In the 1980s, American investigators from the University of Utah evaluated hundreds of neurotoxins derived from sea snails. These are utilized as they attack their prey or their predators and induce a neuro-muscular blockage. This is why ziconotide (SNXIII), a synthetic peptide derived from snail venom, has been under FDA review since 1999. Pre-clinical and clinical studies of this new drug indicate a powerful anesthetic effect. During controlled clinical trials, ziconotide reduced pain intensity by 53% (compared with 18% for the placebo), even in patients insensitive to morphine (20). In 2000, a new neurotoxin, so-called conotoxin TVIIA, was extracted from Conus tulipa, a fish-eating sea snail. Finally, in 2001, another peptide, the so-called contryphan-Vn, was extracted from the venom of a Mediterranean snail