Many human beings suffer from diseases that force them to regularly inject different types of drugs to stay healthy. The American Tim Friede is also customary for this gesture – but for very different reasons: for twenty years, he has been inject regularly … snake venom. An approach decidedly surprising, but whose results, quite spectacular, could benefit all humanity.
The interested party has always been fascinated by these reptiles, especially the most dangerous, which he has been collecting since his adolescence. For him, the pythons and snakes that are generally found in the vivariums of individuals have very little interest. Instead of these relatively harmless snakes for humans, he favors cobras, mambas, vipers, taius and other highly poisonous species, whose bite can be fatal.
A question of life or death
He therefore quickly realized that he had absolutely had to find a strategy to prevent a small accident from one day going into a real tragedy. This is how he decided to expose himself directly to these deadly substances. His goal: Forcing your body to develop a form of immunity, a bit like a vaccine. For almost twenty years, He therefore regularly administered substantial doses of venom – Either by injecting it in diluted form, or by being directly biting by one of his protégés with sharp fangs.
These recurring aggressions had the effect of stimulating its immune system at a fairly spectacular level. Over time, his body has learned to produce antibodies specializing in the response against these toxic agents, allowing it to survive bites that would probably have been fatal for any other human.
Originally, this curious practice had only one objective: to limit the risks associated with its favorite hobby. But what Friede was unaware of at the time was that he had actually launched a process that could ultimately save thousands of people across the planet.
A broad spectrum antivenin
One day, it was contacted by Jacob Glanville, CEO of Centivax, a company specializing in biotechnologies which notably develops antivenines. Friede has agreed to let engineers of the firm collect its survitamin antibodies – undoubtedly unique in the world – to develop a extremely efficient antivenin serum.
And the results were simply spectacular: after the first phase of testing, the researchers observed that this cocktail was capable of protecting mice from the venom of 19 species of snakes, all classified among the most dangerous in the world.
If this result is so exceptional, it is because the broad spectrum antivenins are rare and are generally limited to a dozen species at most. The vast majority of known antivenins only work with a specific species. However, the fact that the Friede immune system has been regularly exposed to a large number of various species seems to have made its antibodies incredibly versatile, hence the versatility of this product.
The Antivenin Universel, Grail de la Toxinologie
And the most interesting thing is that it may only be a start. According to Centivax, this preliminary work could well pave the way to the real Saint Grail of modern toxinology: A universal antivenincapable of protecting a person from almost all of the most dangerous snakes in the world.
It might seem almost anecdotal, knowing that snakes are not really a leading threat in our countries. But such a product could be absolutely saving in countries where these animals are a constant concern. We think for example of Australia, which is full of more poisonous species than the other – including the famous Taïpan of the desert, which produces the most powerful venom ever recorded in a snake.
But it is even more true in India, Latin America or sub -Saharan Africa, for example. In these regions, dangerous snakes are not content to be numerous – they are also Notoriously aggressive and diversified. So we end up with a large number of potentially deadly bites which are often difficult to identify, still complicating care.
To top it all, there are Several socio-economic factors who weigh heavily in the scale. Rural populations, for example, tend to work without shoes, and are therefore even more exposed to bites. Everything except ideal when the nearest hospitals are sometimes located several hours before the place of the accident, and that they may not even have access to the good Antifenin for lack of means.
As you can see: Design an almost universal antivenin would be a huge step forward in the management of this public health problem which costs more than 100,000 people each year. It will therefore be very interesting to follow the benefits of this potentially revolutionary work, which emerged from a particularly unusual history.
🟣 To not miss any news on the Geek newspaper, subscribe to Google News and on our WhatsApp. And if you love us, .
