This man's blood could unlock universal antivenom

Tim Friede, a Wisconsin resident with a long-standing fascination for venomous creatures, has endured hundreds of snake bites, many self-inflicted, in a quest to build immunity.

Now, scientists are studying his blood, hoping to unlock the secrets to a more effective snake bite treatment.

Friede's unusual journey began with a hobby of extracting venom from scorpions and spiders. He kept numerous snakes at his home, and driven by "simple curiosity" and a desire for self-protection, he started injecting himself with diluted snake venom. Gradually increasing the dosage, he allowed snakes to bite him, pushing the boundaries of his self-imposed experiment. This unorthodox approach has piqued the interest of researchers, who are now analysing his blood in the hopes of developing improved antivenom therapies.

"At first, it was very scary," Friede said. "But the more you do it, the better you get at it, the more calm you become with it."

Doctors say that when the immune system is exposed to the toxins in snake venom, it develops antibodies that can neutralise the poison. If it's a small amount of venom, the body can react before it's overwhelmed. And if the body can recognise the venom, it can react more quickly and handle larger exposures.

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.

But Friede also wanted to help. He emailed every scientist he could find, asking them to study the tolerance he'd built up.

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.

When Columbia University's Peter Kwong heard of Friede, he said, "Oh, wow, this is very unusual. We had a very special individual with amazing antibodies that he created over 18 years."

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

It's very early research — 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's not effective against vipers, which include snakes like rattlers.

"Despite the promise, there is much work to do," said Nicholas Casewell, a snakebite researcher at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, in an email.

Friede is now employed by Centivax, which is trying to develop the treatment, and he's 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 quite simple: "Don't do it," he said.