Instead of a painful bite, researchers are hoping the venom from a tarantula could have the opposite effect, becoming an alternative to opioid painkillers.

Researchers from the University of Queensland have been investigating how certain protein molecules called peptides in the venom of the Chinese bird-eating spider bind to pain receptors in the human body.

Venom from the Chinese bird eating spider, a type of tarantula, is being developed as a potential alternative to opioid painkillers. Credit:UQ

Dr Christina Schroeder from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience said they’ve discovered in mouse models that they can tweak the mini-protein to get it to bind to pain receptors in a specific way.

"We know they target specific ion channels in our bodies but we haven’t understood until now how they interact with the membranes on the cell surfaces," Dr Schroeder said.