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BBC News
14 hours ago
- Health
- BBC News
How dem make anti-venom from man wey snake bite 200 times
Di blood of one US man wey deliberately inject imsef wit snake venom for nearly twenty years don lead to "unparalleled" anti-venom, scientists tok. Antibodies find in Tim Friede blood don shown to protect against deadly doses from one wide range of species in animal tests. Current therapies gatz match di specific species of venomous snake wey bite anyone. But Oga Friede 18-year mission fit lead to ogbonge step of finding universal anti-venom against all snakebites - wey dey kill up to 140,000 pipo evri year and leave three times as many needing amputations or facing permanent disability. In total, Mr Friede don endure more dan 200 bites and more dan 700 injections of venom e prepare from some of di world deadliest snakes, including multiple species of mambas, cobras, taipans and kraits. E bin want build up im immunity to protect imsef wen e dey handle snakes, documenting im exploits on YouTube. But di former truck mechanic tok say e don "completely screw up" early on wen two cobra bites wey happun in quick succession leave am in coma. "I no wan die. I no wan lose one finger. I no wan miss work," e tell BBC. Oga Friede motivation na to develop beta therapies for di rest of di world, explaining: "E just become lifestyle and I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing as hard as I fit push - for di pipo wey dey 8,000 miles away from me wey don die from snakebite". 'I go love to get my hands on some of your blood' Currently dem dey make anti-venom by injecting small doses of snake venom into animals, such as horses. Dia immune system dey fight di venom by producing antibodies and dem go harvest am to use as therapy. But venom and anti-venom gatz dey closely matched becos di toxins for venomous bite no be di same from one species to anoda. Dem even get wide variety within di same species – anti-venom wey dem make from snakes from India dey less effective against di same species for Sri Lanka. One team of researchers begin dey search for one type of immune defence wey dem dey call broadly neutralising antibodies. Instead of targeting di part of toxin wey make am unique, dem dey target di part wey make am common to entire classes of toxin. Dat na wen Dr Jacob Glanville, chief executive of biotech company Centivax, come across Tim Friede. "Immediately I look say 'if anybody in di world don develop dis broadly neutralising antibodies, e go be am' and so I reach out," e tok. "Di first call, I be like 'dis fit dey awkward, but I go love get my hands on some of your blood'." Oga Friede agree and di work dey ethically approved becos di study go only take blood, rather dan give am more venom. Di research focus on elapids – one of di two families of venomous snakes – such as coral snakes, mambas, cobras, taipans and kraits. Elapids primarily use neurotoxins in dia venom, wey dey paralyse dia victim and e dey fatal wen dem stop di muscles e need to breathe. Researchers don pick 19 elapids identify by di World Health Organization as being among di deadliest snakes on di planet. Dem don begin to source for Oga Friede blood for protective defences. Dia work, dey detailed in di journal Cell, identify two broadly neutralising antibodies wey fit target two classes of neurotoxin. For experiments on mice, di cocktail mean say di animals bin survive deadly doses from 13 of di 19 species of venomous snake. Dem bin get partial protection against di remaining six. Dis na "unparalleled" breadth of protection, according to Dr Glanville, wey say e "likely cover a whole bunch of elapids for wey no get current anti-venom". Di team dey try to refine di antibodies further and see if adding fourth component fit lead to total protection against elapid snake venom. Di oda class of snake – di vipers – dey rely more on haemotoxins, wey dey attack di blood, rather dan neurotoxins. In total around one dozen broad classes of toxin in snake venom, wey also include cytotoxins dey directly kill cells. "I think in di next 10 or 15 years we go get somtin effective against each one of dis toxin classes," Prof Peter Kwong, one of di researchers for Columbia University, tok. And di hunt continue inside Oga Friede blood samples. "Tim antibodies dey really quite extraordinary - e bin teach im immune system to get dis veri, veri broad recognition," Prof Kwong tok. Di ultimate hope na to get either single anti-venom wey fit do evritin, or one injection for elapids and one for vipers. Prof Nick Casewell, na di head of di centre for snakebite research and interventions for di Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine - e tok say di breadth of protection report bin dey unusual and provide "strong piece of evidence" wey get feasible approach. "No doubt say dis work move di field forward in exciting direction." But e caution say "plenti work still dey to do" and di anti-venom still go need extensive testing bifor dem fit use am in pipo. But for Oga Friede, reaching dis stage "make me feel good". "I dey do somtin good for humanity and e bin dey veri important to me. I dey proud of am. E dey pretty cool."
Wall Street Journal
10-06-2025
- Health
- Wall Street Journal
A Man Let Snakes Bite Him 200 Times. His Blood Inspired a Universal Antivenom.
For more than a decade, Tim Friede collected dangerous snakes at his home in Richfield, Wis., milking their venom and injecting himself with the toxins. The goal?
