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Researchers have discovered a potent antibody that can neutralize a key type of neurotoxin produced by four different deadly snake species from South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa—a step toward an antivenom that could be used on any of the 200 or so dangerous venomous snakes throughout the world. “We are wiping out a major subclass of neurotoxins here,” says Nicholas Casewell, a toxinologist at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and co-author on a paper describing the antibody published today in Science Translational Medicine. “I think this is a really huge step in terms of what can be achieved...

A golden head centipede attacks a Kunming mouse. Credit: PNAS ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A team of researchers from several institutions in China has identified the toxin in golden head centipede venom. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes how they found the toxin that makes the venom so deadly to prey and also identified a possible antidote for it. Researchers have known for quite some time that golden head centipedes (aka the Chinese red-headed centipede), which live in Asia and Hawaii are able to subdue prey larger than its own size, in some...

Recently, though, a San Diego man thought it might be an idea to take a selfie with a rattlesnake. Some might think this has all the sense of taking a boa constrictor clubbing. However, as KGTV in San Diego reported, Todd Fassler picked a rattlesnake out of the brush and thought he might memorialize the event. The snake had other ideas and bit him.....His medical expenses could be described as expensive. KGTV’s Dan Haggerty tweeted Fassler’s bill — for $153,161.25. Of this, more than $83,000 was for “pharmacy.” His case reportedly depleted the antivenom supplies at two local hospitals.

© ShutterstockA US high school teacher and nine of his students have made nanoparticles that can neutralise venom from one of the most dangerous snakes in Africa. These nanoparticles could offer a way to make cheaper and more practical antivenoms.Traditional antivenoms are made by injecting sublethal toxin doses into an animal to invoke an immune response. Antibodies produced in this immune response are then harvested from the animal’s serum. Such antivenoms are not only expensive but they also required refrigeration – a major limitation considering antivenoms are often required in remote locations.Now, Steven Sogo and his best students from...

10/24/2008 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- Coordination and hustle between several American military agencies here enabled a lifesaving package to reach an Iraqi snakebite victim and save a life Oct. 15 here. The Army Medical Materiel Center Southwest Asia staff received an urgent request for anti-venom to help a young Iraqi woman who was in critical condition, and the staff immediately turned to members of the 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron for help. "We have a very strong partnership with the 8th EAMS and we simply could not do our mission without their assistance," said Army Maj. Jennifer Allouche, the...