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+--- Thread: We're close to a universal antivenom v. Cobras, kraits and black mambas (/Thread-We-re-close-to-a-universal-antivenom-v-Cobras-kraits-and-black-mambas)
We're close to a universal antivenom v. Cobras, kraits and black mambas - Maxmars - 03-10-2024
That's great news for many people.
From LiveScience: We're finally close to a universal antivenom that works against cobra, krait and black mamba snake bites, say researchers
subtitled: A lab-made antibody can neutralize the neurotoxins in the venoms of cobras, kraits and black mambas, raising hopes for a universal antivenom treatment for snake bites.
And from Science.org: A lab-made antibody can neutralize the neurotoxins in the venoms of cobras, kraits and black mambas, raising hopes for a universal antivenom treatment for snake bites.
Under the heading of: Paralysis and death avoided
One of the most important families of toxins in snake venoms are neurotoxins.
These toxins prevent nerve signals from travelling from your brain to your muscles, paralyzing them. This includes paralyzing the muscles that inflate and deflate your lungs, so prey and human victims quickly stop breathing and die.
These neurotoxins are in the venoms of some of the world's most deadly snakes, including the African black mamba, the Asian monocled cobra and king cobra, and the deadly kraits of the Indian subcontinent.
In our research, we describe the discovery and development of a lab-made humanised antibody that can neutralize key venom neurotoxins from diverse snakes from diverse regions.
The lab-made antibody is called 95Mat5 and was discovered after examining 50 billion unique antibodies to find ones capable of not only recognizing the neurotoxin in the venoms of many species but also able to neutralize its deadly effects.
It sounds like the testing has been done in animals. But the promise is worthy.
