A man let snakes bite him for years. He could be the key to a universal antivenom

2 months ago

A man fto snakes wound him for years. He could beryllium nan cardinal to a cosmopolitan antivenom

The Egyptian cobra (Naja haje) is simply a lethal venomous snake autochthonal to Africa. Its wound is 1 of aggregate that could beryllium treated pinch a caller cosmopolitan antivenom... developed from a quality named Tim Friede. Michele D'Amico/Getty Images hide caption

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Michele D'Amico/Getty Images

What's it for illustration to get spot by a venomous snake?

"It's for illustration a bee sting times a thousand," Tim Friede says.

Friede would know. Over nan past fewer decades, he's fto himself beryllium bitten complete 2 100 times, by each kinds of venomous snakes — achromatic mambas, taipans, cobras, kraits, and more. He calls it his "claim to fame."

The bites person sent him to nan ICU, put him into comas and more. But pinch time, he's gradually built up an immunity to aggregate types of venom.

That made him wonder: Could this hobby of his beryllium utilized for nationalist good? If he survived each these toxins, could scientists stock his immunity pinch different people, too?

The World Health Organization estimates that each year, betwixt 1 and 3 cardinal group are bitten by venomous snakes. Of those people, tens of thousands die; thousands much are permanently disabled.

High value antivenoms are considered nan astir effective curen for envenomation. Those existing antivenoms usually travel from home animals, for illustration horses, that person been injected pinch mini amounts of a circumstantial venom to nutrient antibodies that place and neutralize its toxins.

Researchers who studied Friede's humor dream to synthesize a curen that could beryllium utilized for aggregate different kinds of venomous snake bites — a cosmopolitan antivenom.

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This section was produced by Hannah Chinn and edited by our showrunner, Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked nan facts. Jimmy Keeley was nan audio engineer. Special acknowledgment to Johannes Doerge.