{"id":69082,"date":"2025-05-02T18:31:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T18:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/69082\/"},"modified":"2025-05-02T18:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T18:31:09","slug":"how-the-blood-of-a-man-who-was-bitten-by-hundreds-of-snakes-could-help-save-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/69082\/","title":{"rendered":"How the blood of a man who was bitten by hundreds of snakes could help save lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Tim Friede has been bitten by snakes<\/a> hundreds of times \u2014 often on purpose. Now scientists are studying his blood in hopes of creating a better treatment for snake bites. <\/p>\n

Friede has long had a fascination with reptiles and other venomous creatures. He used to milk scorpions\u2019 and spiders\u2019<\/a> venom as a hobby and kept dozens of snakes at his Wisconsin home.<\/p>\n

Hoping to protect himself from snake bites \u2014 and out of what he calls \u201csimple curiosity\u201d \u2014 he began injecting himself with small doses of snake venom and then slowly increased the amount to try to build up tolerance. He would then let snakes bite him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, it was very scary,\u201d Friede said. \u201cBut the more you do it, the better you get at it, the more calm you become with it.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

In this photo provided by Centivax, Tim Friede, center, stands in a lab in South San Francisco, Calif., in 2023, that is using his blood to prepare an antivenom to the bites of various snakes. (Centivax via AP)<\/p>\n

In this photo provided by Centivax, Tim Friede, center, stands in a lab in South San Francisco, Calif., in 2023, that is using his blood to prepare an antivenom to the bites of various snakes. (Centivax via AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

While no doctor or emergency medical technician \u2014 or anyone, really \u2014 would ever suggest this is a remotely good idea, experts say his method tracks how the body works. When the immune system is exposed to the toxins in snake venom, it develops antibodies that can neutralize the poison. If it\u2019s a small amount of venom the body can react before it\u2019s overwhelmed. And if it\u2019s venom the body has seen before, it can react more quickly and handle larger exposures. <\/p>\n

Friede has withstood snakebites and injections for nearly two decades and still has a refrigerator full of venom. In videos posted to his YouTube channel, he shows off swollen fang marks on his arms from black mamba, taipan and water cobra bites.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to push the limits as close to death as possible to where I\u2019m just basically teetering right there and then back off of it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

But Friede also wanted to help. He emailed every scientist he could find, asking them to study the tolerance he\u2019d built up.<\/p>\n

And there is a need: Around 110,000 people die from snakebite every year, according to the World Health Organization. And making antivenom is expensive and difficult. It is often created by injecting large mammals like horses with venom and collecting the antibodies they produce. These antivenoms are usually only effective against specific snake species, and can sometimes produce bad reactions due to their nonhuman origins.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This photo provided by Centivax shows Mark Bellin and Hannah Hirou who are involved in efforts to produce an antivenom to counteract the bites of various snakes, at a lab in South San Francisco, Calif., in 2025. (Centivax via AP)<\/p>\n

This photo provided by Centivax shows Mark Bellin and Hannah Hirou who are involved in efforts to produce an antivenom to counteract the bites of various snakes, at a lab in South San Francisco, Calif., in 2025. (Centivax via AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

When Columbia University\u2019s Peter Kwong heard of Friede, he said, \u201cOh, wow, this is very unusual. We had a very special individual with amazing antibodies that he created over 18 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a study published Friday in the journal Cell, Kwong and collaborators shared what they were able to do with Friede\u2019s unique blood: They identified two antibodies that neutralize venom from many different snake species with the aim of someday producing a treatment that could offer broad protection. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s very early research \u2014 the antivenom was only tested in mice, and researchers are still years away from human trials. And while their experimental treatment shows promise against the group of snakes that include mambas and cobras, it\u2019s not effective against vipers, which include snakes like rattlers. <\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the promise, there is much work to do,\u201d said Nicholas Casewell, a snakebite researcher at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in an email. Casewell was not involved with the new study.<\/p>\n

Friede\u2019s journey has not been without its missteps. Among them: He said after one bad snake bite he had to cut off part of his finger. And some particularly nasty cobra bites sent him to the hospital.<\/p>\n

Friede is now employed by Centivax, a company trying to develop the treatment and that helped pay for the study. He\u2019s excited that his 18-year odyssey could one day save lives from snakebite, but his message to those inspired to follow in his footsteps is simple: \u201cDon\u2019t do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Tim Friede has been bitten by snakes hundreds of times \u2014 often on purpose.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69083,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[12365,933,12019,4179,105,34725,34726,70,34722,34723,16,15,34724,1717,5103,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-69082","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animal-attacks","9":"tag-animals","10":"tag-ap-top-news","11":"tag-general-news","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-nicholas-casewell","14":"tag-peter-kwong","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-snakes","17":"tag-tim-friede","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-wi-state-wire","21":"tag-wildlife","22":"tag-wisconsin","23":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114439670106966740","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}