| Title | Snake Man's Venom Habit Holds Hope for New Antidote | |
| Date | Saturday November 11 2017, @06:04PM | |
| Author | Fnord666 | |
| Topic | ||
| from the don't-try-thisssss-at-home dept. | ||
For nearly 30 years, London-based reptile enthusiast and musician Steve Ludwin has been injecting snake venom—a practice that has almost killed him.
It may now help save thousands of lives, as researchers search for a new antidote based on his body's response to the toxic fluids.
"It sounds very crazy what I am doing but it turns out that it potentially has lots of health benefits," Ludwin, the tattooed 51-year-old told AFP in the living room of his home in the British capital.
Ludwin demonstrated his decades-old habit by firmly holding the head of a green Pope's tree viper—Trimeresurus popeiorum—and extracting a few drops of its venom.
Minutes later, he has injected the fluid into his arm using a syringe.
The scientists hope to produce cheaper anti-venom from the antibodies in his blood.
[Please note that this is very dangerous and Mr. Ludwin has almost died a number of times. Don't try this at home! - Ed]
| Links |
printed from SoylentNews, Snake Man's Venom Habit Holds Hope for New Antidote on 2026-03-06 18:18:15