Snakebite antidote without the venom

摘要

Snakebites kill tens of thousands of people each year, yet supplies of life-saving antivenom are drying up. Now an antivenom that is both safer and more versatile has been developed, which its inventors hope will be taken up in the poor countries where it is most needed. Snake venom contains a cocktail of tissue-destroying enzymes. The only antidote till now has been the antibody-rich serum extracted from the blood of horses after they have been injected with venom milked from snakes.