It’s partly because they are so abundant in certain parts of Africa and Asia, but also because they are aggressively defensive and quick to strike, says Professor Nick Casewell, who is showing me around Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine’s Centre for Snakebite Research & Interventions.
The Liverpool scientists are developing treatments not only for snakebites – which take a huge toll in low-income countries – but also for completely unrelated conditions including strokes, blood clots and haemophilia.
This approach has a proven track record. The new weight-loss injections, Wegovy and Mounjaro, were developed thanks to research into the saliva of Gila monsters, a venomous lizard. “You’re leveraging evolution, in a way,” says Professor Casewell.
For the scientists collecting the snake venom, though, safety hinges on following a well rehearsed set of procedures, always working in a pair.
They work slowly and methodically, to ensure that at least one has control of the snake at all times.
The saw-scaled viper is quick to strike (Photo: Nandakumar M/Getty Images)
How the milking process goes can depend on the snake’s mood on the day. A fearsome brown cobra is fairly placid while it is handled, only rearing up and inflating his hood when it’s all over, as if to show he’s not really a pushover.
When the pair aren’t holding the snake firmly with their hands, they use a variety of home-made tools to keep it at a distance. They look like long sticks terminating in a hook or other implement.
Snake on the loose
But this is no cause for panic, says Professor Casewell. The pair just step back, before gently pinning down the snake on the room’s soft mat with their tools.
And should the worst happen, there is always antivenom, stored at a nearby hospital. This is made by injecting a small harmless dose of venom into sheep or horses. The animals make antibodies against the toxic compounds, which can be collected from their blood.
Better snakebite treatments are desperately needed. And this is where the Liverpool team come in. They are developing a range of new medicines, including more sophisticated forms of antivenom that are effective against multiple kinds of snake.
Variable bush vipers hang around in treesThis is possible because many of the toxins in different snake venoms are reactive molecules that have an atom of zinc at their core. The Liverpool team are developing treatments that bind to zinc, stopping the toxin from working.
In higher doses, the drug blocked the effects of snakebite in animal tests and earlier this month passed an initial safety trial in people. The first tests in snakebite victims will start next year.
New medicines
For instance, a group of blood pressure drugs called ACE inhibitors, were developed from a chemical in the venom of the Brazilian Viper – which kills by causing a catastrophic drop in blood pressure.
Blood clotting is a highly complex process. Blood should normally flow freely through our veins, but it must be able to quickly solidify at sites of injury – our lives may depend on it. The clotting process depends on dozens of different cells and biochemicals reacting to turn liquid into a jelly-like plug.
Other universities around the world are investigating different venoms that, conversely, boost blood clotting. These could form the basis of treatments for when someone is bleeding too freely, after surgery or childbirth.
As well as the recent explosion in the world’s use of weight-loss injections, a potent painkiller called ziconotide was discovered in the venom of cone snails. These sea-living snails use the chemical’s nerve-blocking effect to paralyse fish so they can be eaten alive.
“The natural libraries of compounds that are out there in animal venoms are really interesting for potential therapeutics,” says Professor Casewell. “For drug discovery, that’s a really exciting starting point.”
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