‘Super antibodies’ for snake toxins

6 May 2025
Venom milking
Christina Zdenek and Chris Hay extracting venom from a coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus). Credit: Russell Shakespeare

Scientists in the United States have created a new snake antivenom using the blood of a man who deliberately built up immunity to snakebites by injecting himself with many different kinds of venom more than 800 times over 18 years.

The researchers showed “super antibodies” from the man’s blood prevented toxic damage from neurotoxins found in the venoms of 19 different snake species, including mambas and cobras.

Read the full story via The Conversation

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