Scientists hunt for anti-venom
When people are bitten by a venomous snake, they are treated with a medicine called an anti-venom. Now, scientists believe they are close to creating a laboratory-made anti-venom that could transform the way snake bites are treated.
Every year, about 5.4 million people worldwide are bitten by snakes. The UK’s only venomous snake is the adder but bites are rare and don’t usually cause serious problems. Other snakes’ bites can cause serious illness or even death. At the moment, anti-venom is created from the venom of each species of snake. That means you need to know what sort of snake bit you, which isn’t always possible.
Anti-venom has been made in the same way for more than 100 years: by collecting antibodies. Antibodies are special molecules in the blood that are created when a body defends itself from attack by venom or illness.
To make anti-venom, scientists collect some snake venom and inject a small amount (so it’s not harmful) into an animal. The animal’s system then makes antibodies to fight the effects of the venom.
Scientists take some of the animal’s blood and collect the antibodies from the sample. Unfortunately, as the antibodies come from an animal, they can cause problems in humans. To solve this, scientists want to make antibodies in a laboratory. That way, they can create the antibodies carefully so that the anti-venom is better suited to the human body.
The venom from many of the world’s deadliest snakes contains one particular type of poison. A team from the US, India and Liverpool University in the
UK, have found an antibody that can fight its effects. They found it in the same way that scientists found antibodies to fight Covid-19 during the pandemic. Using technology, the team checked more than 60 billion antibodies made in a lab until, at last, they found one that was best suited to fighting that particular type of poison. The antibody is called 95Mat5 and it has worked well on mice. The next stage is to use this to make anti-venom for humans. Kartik Sunagar, who worked on the study, says this way of treating snake bites looks safer for humans and would be kinder to animals.