Scientist let deadly snakes bite him 200 times to create ‘unparalleled’ anti-venom

A research scientist voluntarily exposed himself to venomous toxins over 850 times to develop a unique antivenom serum within his own bloodstream.

Man’s Quest for a Universal Antivenom

Tim Friede allowed dangerous snakes to bite him more than 200 times over 18 years. He even lapsed into a coma after experiencing two cobra strikes. His goal was to cultivate resistance to snake venom, enabling scientists to create a panacea counter venom for various snakebites.

Friede frequently encountered toxins so lethal they could have felled a horse, but his efforts appear to have been fruitful.

Breakthrough in Snakebite Treatment

Investigators have harnessed his blood to produce a groundbreaking remedy for snakebites. These strikes claim up to 140,000 lives annually and leave over 420,000 individuals disabled or necessitating amputations. The absence of a comprehensive antivenom for all snakebites has kept these figures so high.

Initiating the Project

Friede’s endeavor commenced on YouTube, where he managed a channel dedicated to handling snakes.

The researcher endeavored to build his immunity to snakebites while handling perilous reptiles for his videos. However, his strategy backfired early on when two Egyptian cobra strikes in 2001 left him in critical condition.

Friede recalled his coma to the BBC: ‘I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to lose a finger. I didn’t want to miss work.

‘It just became a lifestyle, and I just kept pushing and pushing as hard as I could — for the people who are 8,000 miles away from me who die from snakebite.’

Scientific Collaboration

Antivenom specialists soon became aware of Friede’s actions and contacted him. Dr. Jacob Glanville, CEO of biotech firm Centivax, expressed his interest: ‘I was like “this might be awkward, but I’d love to get my hands on some of your blood.”’

Until that point, antivenom was exclusively produced by administering minimal doses of snake venom to animals, such as horses. As the animal generated antibodies to combat the toxin, researchers collected these antibodies for therapeutic use. Yet, this method offered limited effectiveness due to the vast array of toxins present in different venomous bites from various species. This necessitated a precise match between the venom and the antivenom.

Revolutionizing Antivenom Development

Friede’s blood has transformed this approach. His antibodies, developed over 18 years of venom exposure, have shown protection against lethal doses from a wide array of dangerous species in recent trials on animals.

Researchers concentrated on venomous bites from the most perilous snakes in the elapid family, including mambas, cobras, and coral snakes. Scientists then utilized Friede’s blood to form a treatment mixture. This cocktail combines two protective antibodies from Friede’s blood and a minuscule chemical that can neutralize venom’s harmful impacts.

This mixture enabled mice to survive lethal injections from 13 out of 19 dangerous snake species. The antivenom also demonstrated partial protection against the remaining six.

Future Endeavors

Dr. Glanville described the results as ‘unmatched’ and surpassing anything other scientists could have achieved with Friede’s venom exposures. He added: ‘By the time we reached three components, we had a dramatically unparalleled breadth of full protection for 13 of the 19 species.’

Dr. Glanville and his team aim to develop complete protection against all elapid snake venom next. They are refining the antibodies further and experimenting with adding a fourth element to the cocktail. Although vipers are not the focus of this research, Friede also immunized himself against bites from this category.

Researchers are hopeful they can formulate a treatment against these toxins as well.

Potential Impact and Future Prospects

Prof. Peter Kwong, a Columbia University researcher, stated: ‘I think in the next 10 or 15 years we’ll have something effective against each one of those toxin classes.

‘Tim’s antibodies are really quite extraordinary – he taught his immune system to get this very, very broad recognition.’

The aspiration is to discover a singular antivenom to combat all perilous snakebites.

Friede is thrilled with his contribution to vital health research, saying: ‘I’m doing something good for humanity, and that was very important to me.

‘I’m proud of it. It’s pretty cool.’

Relevance to the UK

This research could one day be beneficial in the UK, where there has been a recent surge in sightings of the Common European viper. These adders — the UK’s sole venomous snake — pose minimal threat to humans but can be lethal to pets.