A Man Has Let Hundreds of Venomous Snakes Bite Him on Purpose, Now His Blood Is Being Used for Lifesaving Treatments

YOU NEED TO KNOW

• A man bitten by more than 200 species of snakes helped scientists develop a new antidote drug

• Herpetologist and venom expert Tim Friede voluntarily allowed himself to be bitten by hundreds of deadly venomous snakes over the course of two decades.

• His efforts allowed researchers to create an antidote cocktail that could reduce the effects of certain snake bites.

A man describes being bitten by more than 200 snakes on purpose, and scientists believe research into the man’s immunity to venomous snake bites could help future snake bite victims.

Tim Friede, described by biotechnology company Centivax as a self-taught herpetologist and venom expert, voluntarily allowed himself to be bitten by hundreds of deadly venomous snakes over two decades. According to scientists research published last year in the magazine Cell The man’s snakebite efforts helped researchers create an antidote cocktail that could reduce the effects of certain snakebites, according to research on the antitoxin antibodies Friede developed.

To talk NBC News And Science News Last year, Friede shared that she had a “simple curiosity” about venomous animals for years before she began injecting herself with small doses of snake venom to develop some immunity. He was increasing the amount of venom he injected (he was milking it from the snakes themselves) to try to increase his tolerance before allowing venomous snakes to bite him directly.

“It was very scary at first,” Friede told NBC. “But the more you do it, the better you get along with it, the calmer you become with it.”

he confessed NPR He said last year that his experiments had been a “bumpy road” and recalled that he was “admitted to the intensive care unit after two cobra bites”, which left him “in a coma for four days”.

But the process allowed Friede to successfully develop immunity against many different killer snakes, including black mambas, king cobras and tiger snakes.

He told NBC he hoped his research would also serve a purpose. Friede spent time emailing every scientist he could find and asking them to study his tolerance.

Eventually, a group of researchers came back to him and found that Friede’s immunity to snakes, developed over decades, made him a hyperimmune human blood donor with antibodies that could be used to develop antivenom.

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“What was exciting about the donor was his unique, once-in-a-lifetime immune history,” Jacob Glanville, lead author of the study and CEO of Centivax, said in a news release at the time. “Not only did it potentially create these broadly neutralizing antibodies in this case, but it could also lead to a broad-spectrum or universal antidote.”

“If anyone has solved the problem of keeping the immune system focused, it’s this guy, thanks to repeated stimulation with all these snakes,” Glanville told Friede’s NPR.

More research is needed on antivenom. according to World Health Organization (WHO) states that between 81,000 and 137,000 people die from snake bites each year, and approximately three times as many snake bites lead to amputations and permanent disabilities.

According to NBC, the process of creating an antidote can be expensive and difficult because it involves injecting venom into large mammals such as horses and harvesting the antibodies they produce.

But researchers working with Centivax analyzed Friede’s unique antitoxin antibodies, allowing them to develop a new antidote cocktail.

The cocktail was created by combining two of Friede’s antibodies with a toxin-blocking drug. The researchers found that the antivenom completely protected the mice against 13 snake species and partially protected them against six snake species.

“This is so important because although millions of snake envenomations occur each year, the majority are in developing countries and disproportionately affect rural communities,” Glanville said of the research.

According to Centivax, the next phase of testing for antivenom treatments will be conducted in Australia using dogs brought in for snakebite injuries.

When Friede learned about the results of the study and the resulting cocktail, she said, “I couldn’t believe it. I really couldn’t believe it.” “I know that I am doing something for humanity and giving back to science.”

As for Friede’s snake-biting habit, it had been several years since he had such close contact with a venomous reptile.

“[But] It’s a great thing to know that you can get through this and keep your calm and composure,” he told NPR.

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