While cone snails are stunning animals with beautifully adorned shells, they're also some of the deadliest creatures to roam the oceans. Now, scientists from the University of Glasgow have revealed plans to harness their venom to develop new painkillers that are more effective and less addictive than current options. Dr Andrew Jamieson, who is leading the project, said: 'The cone snail might seem like an unlikely prospect for breakthroughs in drug discovery, but the conotoxins it produces have a lot of intriguing properties which have already shown promise in medicine.' While cone snails are stunning animals with beautifully adorned shells, they're also some of the deadliest creatures to roam the oceans Cone snails are marine gastropods characterized by a conical shell and beautiful color patterns. Cone snails possess a harpoonlike tooth capable of injecting a potent neurotoxin that can be dangerous to humans.