Bryan G Fry
US-born Bryan Grieg Fry graduated from Portland State University with a dual degree in Molecular Biology and Scientific Philosophy, with a minor in Psychology. Drawn to Australia by its numerous toxic creatures, Fry completed a PhD from the University of Queensland on the toxic natriuretic peptides of the inland taipan, which is widely deemed the world's most venomous snake. In 2000, he worked as a researcher at the Australian Venom Research Unit (AVRU) at the University of Melbourne. Fry then took up a postdoctoral fellowship at the National University of Singapore, which allowed him to work on Asian snakes and build on his research into snake venom evolution. Fry returned to Australia and the University of Melbourne as deputy director and ARC postdoctoral fellow at the AVRU. In 2007, Fry joined the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Melbourne as an ARC Queen Elizabeth II Research Fellow. Fry is now associate professor at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, where he is group leader of the Venom Evolution Lab. He has led expeditions to over 40 countries, ranging from the Brazilian Amazon to Pakistan’s Sindh desert to Antarctica, and has been inducted into The Explorers Club.
Largest venomous lizard
With adult males averaging 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) long and weighing 79–91 kg (175–200 lb), the largest species of venomous lizard, as well as today's largest lizard overall, is the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis). Although scientists have long known that in the wild its saliva contains pathogenic bacteria, it was only in 2009 that this species was also shown by Dr Bryan Fry to possess a pair of true venom-secreting glands, in its lower jaw, with this trait shared with all other anguimorph lizards and being the same venom glands as those in the iconic Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum). Also known as the Komodo monitor or ora, these lizards are found on the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rintja, Padar and Flores.