How One Wisconsin Man’s Shocking Dare Sparked a Breakthrough in Universal Antivenom Research
Here’s a guy who’s taken “snake handling” to a whole new, and frankly bizarre, level. Imagine willingly letting venomous snakes sink their fangs into you—not once, but over 200 times—and injecting yourself with hundreds of doses of venom over twenty years. Tim Friede isn’t your average herpetology hobbyist; he’s basically a real-life, self-experimenting superhero whose astonishing antibodies are now inspiring scientists to cook up a universal antivenom. Could one man’s relentless quest to beat death—and snake venom—mean an end to hundreds of thousands of snakebite deaths worldwide? It sounds crazy, but this may just rewrite medical history… or at least give snakes a serious run for their money.
LEARN MORE
Tim Friede has subjected himself to more than 700 doses of lethal snake venom and 200 actual snakebites over the past two decades. Now, his antibodies may lead to a universal antivenom.
CentivaxTim Friede with a water cobra.
For the past two decades, a man named Tim Friede has been self-administering doses of venom from cobras, mambas, rattlesnakes, and other deadly species with the hope of developing immunity to snakebites and helping scientists create a universal antivenom.
Friede administered most of these venoms via injection, but he also let venomous snakes bite him more than 200 times in the pursuit of this potential remedy — and it seems his sacrifice has paid off. Researchers have now used Friede’s antibodies to create a broad antivenom that has proven successful in mice.
Post Comment