Category: Articles

An Austrian chef who lost nearly all use of his legs is back in the kitchen thanks to an innovative device created by a friend.

The device, a C-shaped metal hook suspended from ceiling rails, allows Chef Peter Lammer to move freely around the kitchen while keeping his hands free for cooking tasks.

Ten years ago, Lammer, from Salzburg, was in a motorcycle accident that left him 80% disabled, despite extensive physical therapy.

The accident brought severe pain, mental strain, and a bleak financial outlook. However, Lammer’s friend, Bernhard Tichy, who ran a local zip line course, was inspired by Lammer’s passion for cooking and family. Together, they designed a device called Standing Ovation. It lets disabled users sit on a bicycle seat attached to a hook, which is connected to a ceiling rail. This setup allows them to slide along the workspace, with the device bearing their torso weight, leaving their hands free for work. When lifting, a spring system absorbs additional weight, reducing strain on the legs.

With Standing Ovation, Lammer can pull a pot off the stove and glide to the prep station with just a small push.

“All the experts said I would never be able to do a standing job again,” Lammer told Reuters from the kitchen of his Salzburg restaurant, Johanneskeller.

Cone snail venom could be the key to developing better diabetes treatments, according to a recent study. Researchers found that the toxin from the Conus geographus, one of the most venomous creatures on Earth, might also help create new drugs for other hormone-related conditions.

The team, led by scientists from the University of Utah, identified a component in the venom that mimics somatostatin, a human hormone that regulates blood sugar and several other hormones. This toxin, called consomatin, helps the snail immobilize its prey. In humans, somatostatin prevents dangerous spikes in blood sugar and other hormone levels. However, consomatin is more stable and specific than somatostatin, making it a promising model for drug development.

The researchers found that consomatin targets the same protein as somatostatin but does so more precisely, affecting only blood sugar levels without influencing other hormones. This makes it more targeted than the most precise synthetic drugs currently available for hormone regulation.

Though using snail venom as a treatment might be risky, understanding its structure could lead to safer drugs for endocrine disorders. Consomatin’s stability is due to an unusual amino acid that prevents it from breaking down quickly, a feature that could inspire longer-lasting medications.

Senior author Professor Helena Safavi noted that the precision of the toxin could be incredibly useful in treating diseases. “Venomous animals have evolved to fine-tune venom components to target specific physiological processes, often relevant to disease,” she said. Safavi explained that consomatin, which shares an evolutionary lineage with somatostatin, has been refined by the cone snail over millions of years into a highly effective weapon.

Consomatin works by rapidly lowering blood sugar, leaving the snail’s prey unresponsive, while a second component prevents blood sugar levels from recovering. Dr. Ho Yan Yeung, the study’s lead author, suggested that the venom might contain other glucose-regulating molecules, not just insulin- and somatostatin-like toxins.