Researchers from the Scripps Research Institute, the biomedical research institute based in California, have developed an antibody that is able to block the effects of the lethal toxins present in snake venom. Tested in mice, it protected them not only from death but also from paralysis.
The antibody, however, does not work against viper venom: to develop a universal antidote, therefore, a cocktail composed of different antibodies will be needed. More than 100,000 people a year, mostly in Asia and Africa, die from snake bites.