How a Desert Lizard Helped Create Today’s GLP-1 Drugs
NewBeauty Facebook Pinterest Instagram Youtube find a doctor Face Adult Acne Antioxidants Anti-Aging Celebrity Chronic Skin Conditions Eye Hydration Hyperpigmentation Makeup View All Eyebrows Eye Color Foundation Fragrance Lip Color Makeovers Male Skin Care Peels Pre-Event Prep Sensitive Skin Skin Care Skin Health Smile Sun Care Treatments Fillers Microneedling Post-Procedure Skin Care Neurotoxins Regenerative Aesthetics Skin Lifting Body Body Sculpting Breasts Butts Cellulite Hair Removal Hands + Nails Legs Pregnancy Find a Doctor Hair Bond Repair Celebrity Dry Hair Frizzy Hair Gray Hair Hair Color Hair Growth Hair Repair Scalp Health Styling + Tips Awards NB100 Awards 15th Annual Beauty Awards 2025 NewBeauty Readers’ Choice Awards Shopping Gift Guides Product Reviews NewBeauty Storefront Wellness Fitness GLP-1s Health Menopause About Us TESTTUBE Search for: Search HomeWellnessGLP-1s How a Desert Lizard Helped Create Today’s GLP-1 Drugs A reminder that their story doesn’t start in Hollywood. It starts in the desert. Tatiana Bido Published: Dec 9, 2025 Love Employee/ Getty Images In This Article Featured ExpertsThe Gut Hormone That Almost Didn’t Make ItEnter the Gila MonsterFrom Diabetes Drug to Weight-Loss ToolWhere the Science Is Headed NowWhat the Lizard Started As the World Health Organization recently issued guidance supporting the use of GLP-1 medications in obesity care, these drugs reached a new milestone. For patients, it marks a much-needed shift away from willpower-based narratives and toward understanding weight as something rooted in biology. But long before Ozempic and Wegovy became household names, the story of GLP-1s started with early gut-hormone research—and an unlikely breakthrough courtesy of a venomous desert lizard. Below, experts walk us through the science of GLP-1s: where it began, what we’ve learned and where the field is headed next. In the 1980s and 1990s, researchers were trying to understand how the body regulates blood sugar after meals. That work led to…