Last updated at 20:23 07 May 2007

It is pink and grey, 2ft long and one of the only two venomous lizards in the world.

Yet the Gila Monster has proved an unlikely ally in the battle to control diabetes.

Scientists have isolated a chemical in its saliva

which is similar to a human hormone that helps

regulate blood sugar.

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The Gila (pronounced heela) Monster, which is

native to the desert areas of the U.S. and Mexico, eats only three or four times a year and a compound known as exendin-4 produced in its salivary glands helps it digest these meals very slowly.

This quality has been copied and produced synthetically in the injectable drug exenatide, which is being used to treat type 2 diabetes.

Type 2, which mainly affects the over-40s, occurs when the body gradually loses the ability to process blood sugar, leading to high levels which can damage body organs.

The companies Eli Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceuticals are launching the drug today under the brand name Byetta.

Wild populations of the Gila Monster and its

equally poisonous cousin the Beaded Lizard are

declining rapidly owing to habitat loss and illegal hunting for the pet trade.

This has led conservationists to set up a project

to protect it in its habitat.

In recognition of the Gila Monster’s gift to medicine, Eli Lilly is making a charitable contribution to the project over the

next three years.

Richard Gibson, Curator of Herpetology

at the Zoological Society of London, said:

'The Gila Monster is an amazing reptile and without it this valuable discovery would not have been made.

'I hope that further awareness of its role in this exciting medication will highlight the importance of preserving its habitat.'