US man lets snakes bite him 200 times to make powerful anti-venom
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New York: In an effort to create an ‘unparalleled anti-venom’, a man in the US has allowed himself to be bitten by all kinds of deadly snakes several times.
Tim Friede, 57, who is a former truck mechanic, allowed himself to be injected with venom of species including deadly mambas, cobras and taipans, Daily Mail reported.
These risky injections that he took more than 200 times have raised hope among researchers to develop a universal treatment for snake bites, according to Daily Mail.
About 140,000 people die from snake bites a year as anti-venoms work slowly alongside being effective against a single species.
From repeated bites, Friede’s blood is coursing with antibodies created by a wide range of snakes.
The process of more than 25 years has trained his immune system to fight accidental bites.
Hailing from Wisconsin in the US, Friede began extracting venom from snakes in 1999 before injecting diluted tiny doses into his body.
In 2001 he fell into a four-day coma after a cobra bit him twice quickly, showing the process not safe.
Coming across a video of Friede on YouTube, Jacob Glanville, the CEO of US biotech company Centivax approached him.
Glanville reportedly said that the secrets of universal anti-venom was pumping through Friede’s veins.
It is reported citing tests that Friede is immune to venom from snakes including the ones that have not bitten him previously.
After combining his blood with drugs, Friede was found completely protected against 13 of 19 species alongside partially neutralizing the venom of the rest.
The effort is praise worthy considering the situation today where there are around 650 species of snake but only 30 antibody products.
It is reported that a universal antidote could come out in five years, according to the report.
