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The black mamba is undoubtedly the deadliest snake in the world
Scientists say the blood of a man in the US, who intentionally injected snake venom for nearly 20 years, has led to “unparalleled” anti-toxicity.
Antibodies found in Tim Friede’s blood have been shown to protect against lethal doses from a wide range of species in animal studies.
Current treatments should match the specific species of venomous snake that everyone has been bitten.
But Friede’s 18-year mission could be an important step towards finding universal anti-toxicity for all snakes. This kills up to 14,000 people a year, leaving three times more people facing amputations and permanent disability.
In total, Friede has endured over 200 bites and over 700 poison injections prepared from some of the world’s deadliest snakes, including multiple species of Manbus, Cobras, Taipan and Krait.
He initially wanted to build up immunity to protect himself when dealing with snakes.
But the former truck mechanic said he was “completely ruined” early on when two cobra bites quickly put him in a coma state.
“I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to lose my fingers. I didn’t want to miss work,” he told the BBC.
Friede’s motivation was to develop better treatments in other parts of the world, explaining:
“I want to get some hands on your blood.”
Currently, antivenom is made by injecting small amounts of snake venom into animals such as horses. Their immune system fights poisons by producing antibodies, and these are harvested to be used as treatments.
However, the toxins in the venom differ from species to species, so the venom and anti-toxicity must be closely matched.
There are even more different species of the same species. Anti-toxicity made from Indian snakes is not very effective against the same species in Sri Lanka.
A team of researchers began looking for a type of immune defense, widely known as neutralizing antibodies. Instead of targeting the toxin parts that make the toxin unique, they target parts that are common to the entire class of toxins.
That’s when Dr. Jacob Glanville, CEO of Biotech Company Centivax, met Tim Friede.
“I immediately reached out and said, ‘If anyone in the world developed these widely neutralizing antibodies, it would be him,” he said.
“The first call, I was like, ‘This may be awkward, but I want to get some hands on your blood.” ”
Friede agreed, and ethical approval was given because the study only took blood, rather than giving him more venom.
Jacob Granville
Center Tim Friede wanted to help develop better treatments for Snakebite victims
This study focused on Erapid, one of two families of venomous snakes, including coral snakes, mamba, cobra, taipan and crait.
Erapids mainly use neurotoxins on poisons. Venig is fatal when numbing the victim and stopping the muscles needed to breathe.
Researchers chose 19 elapids that the World Health Organization identified as one of the deadliest snakes on the planet. They then began scrutinizing Mr. Friede’s blood for protective protection.
Their study, detailed in the journal Cell, identified two widely neutralizing antibodies that could target two classes of neurotoxins. They added that they would make anti-Vivenom cocktails, in addition to drugs that target a third.
In mouse experiments, the cocktail meant that the animal survived a lethal dose from 13 of the 19 venomous snake species. They had partial protection for the remaining six.
According to Dr. Granville, this is a “unparalleled” width of protection.
Jacob Granville
Researchers working on the development of universal anti-vivenom
The team is trying to see if further improvements to the antibodies and adding a fourth component will lead to full protection against the Elapid Snake Venom.
Other classes of snakes – vipers – rely more on hemotoxin, which attacks blood, rather than neurotoxin. In total, snake venom has around a broad class of toxins, including cytotoxins that kill cells directly.
Professor Peter Kwon, one of the researchers at Columbia University, said:
The hunt then continues within Friede’s blood sample.
“Tim’s antibodies are really, really extraordinary. He taught his immune system and got this very broad awareness,” Professor Kwong said.
The ultimate hope is to have a single anti-vivenom that can do everything, or one injection for the elapid, one injection for the viper.
Professor Nick Casewell, director of the Snakebite Research and Intervention Centre at Liverpool Tropical Medicine, said the reported range of protection was “certainly novel” and provided “strong evidence” that this is a feasible approach.
“There’s no doubt that this work will drive the field in an exciting direction.”
However, he warned that “there is a lot to do” and that anti-vivenom still requires extensive testing before it can be used by people.
But for Friede, reaching this stage “it makes you feel better.”
“I’m doing something good for humanity. It was very important to me. I’m proud of it. It’s pretty cool.”
