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How Antivenom Is Made, P CHEMISTRY: toxins // BIOLOGY: adaptations Fry, a venom researcher at the University TEXAS corAL SnAkE: of Queensland in Australia. “There are Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Venomous animals hundreds of thousands of [venomous] and northeastern Mexico species out there.” produce some of the Many of these animals use their venom deadliest poisons on the way snakes do, to kill or immobilize prey. how antivenom Others, such as stingrays, use it to defend the planet. They’re also against attackers. When male platypuses fight is made to make life-saving antivenoms, scientists enlist the help of over territory, they stab at each other with saving people’s lives. horses that live on specialized ranches. the scientists inject the venom-shooting spurs on their hind legs. animals with a tiny, harmless dose of venom, which causes their What makes venom such an effective immune systems to produce antibodies—proteins that attack and weapon is its chemical composition. Venoms disable the venom toxins. then the scientists can collect the anti- contain a mixture of poisonous molecules bodies and use them to treat people who have been bitten or stung. called toxins. When one animal injects another with venom, the toxins circulate AnTibodieS ToxinS throughout the victim’s body and prevent it from operating normally. An eastern coral snake’s venom, for BITING instance, contains neurotoxins that block Continued on WHITE- the next page LIppED VenoM TrEE vIpEr: a ranch hand injects a small, Southeast Asia 2 harmless dose of venom a technician extracts and into a horse. the toxins in the 1 later purifies venom from the venom trigger the horse’s immune species for which scientists want system to produce antibodies that BACKdrug companies, and other to make an antivenom. neutralize those particular toxins. ost people in their right minds . d avoid handling dangerous institutions around the U.S. ogin. C hael hael C i snakes. But not Mark that are studying these snakes m WATCH Hockmuller, who picks up and other venomous creatures. bLood pLASMA y damien s A VIDEO dozens of them every day. They’re learning what makes venom so B t); page 15: 15: t); page www.scholastic.com F e /scienceworld MHockmuller runs the Serpentarium, a harmful, how to counteract its sometimes- l research facility at Texas A&M University- deadly effects on human victims, and how it Red e) illustrations Kingsville that’s home to about 450 snakes. can even help us treat disease. bLood K na 4 BONUS ceLLS s mages (Bottom mages (Bottom It’s Hockmuller’s job to care for the reptiles i SKILLS over the next year, the horse a ranch hand draws blood and collect the extremely poisonous venom CHEMICAL etty SHEETS 3 receives several booster 4 from the horse. a machine g www.scholastic.com they produce. WEAPONS shots with increasing amounts extracts the plasma, the part of the mages mages (Coral /scienceworld Today, Hockmuller and an assistant pull When you think of venom. eventually, the horse blood that contains the antibodies. i produces so many antibodies that the rest of the blood is returned etty g a Mojave rattlesnake out of its cage. This of venomous crea- / it’s immune to the venom. to the horse. C desert snake doesn’t particularly like being tures, snakes may orling Kindersley/ d handled—and its bite can kill a person. be the first animals t); F eographi e g Hockmuller grips the snake’s that come to mind, l op t head between his bare but they’re far from ational n mages mages ( fingers and carefully the only ones. There i artore/ etty guides it toward a cup are spiders, scorpions, s g covered with plastic lizards, insects, fish, r/ ck i l film. The snake strikes and even mammals that iper); Joel v when a patient comes in with it at the cup, piercing the film with its make venom (see Venom p the plasma is sent to a lab, 6 a bite or sting, doctors use an WESTErn om ( DIAMonDBACK fangs and spraying its venom into the Diversity, p. 17). 5 where chemists purify it and iv line to inject the antivenom into C rATTLESnAkE: container below. “Just about every order package it as a liquid or freeze- the patient’s veins. the antibodies Southwestern BEAUTIFUL dried powder. it is then shipped in circulate through the body and U.S. and Later, Hockmuller will ship the of animal has venomous pIT vIpEr: vials to hospital pharmacies. neutralize the toxin molecules. page 14: Kevin 14: K. Caldwell/F page northern Mexico venom to researchers at universities, members,” says Bryan Grieg Thailand Kern/naturepl. WWW.SCHOLASTIC.COM/SCIENCEWORLD 15 STInGEr venom diversity venom is such a useful adaptation that many different types of animals have evolved to produce it. they use their venom for hunting, fighting, or defense. BLUE-rInGED ocTopUS all octopuses use venom to hunt, but only STInG this 15 cm (6 in.)-long australian MAcHInE: A species is dangerous to honeybee’s humans. its bite can kill a stinger, shown here under swimmer within minutes. BULB a powerful microscope, stores venom in a tiny sac. When STInGrAy the bee stings, when these fish feel the central bulb threatened, they use barbs on their whip- pumps venom vEnoM SAc into the stinger. like tails to inject their attackers with venom. it contains toxins that damage muscle tissue and cause extreme pain. or stings. These VENOM BENEFITS lifesaving drugs are Treating bites isn’t the only reason to signals between the brain and muscles of prepared in advance and kept in hospital collect venom from animals like snakes. SLoW LorIS its prey. This paralyzes the prey so that the pharmacies for when they’re needed. Scientists are studying the effects of the world’s only venomous primates, snake can more easily eat it. Other venoms, To make antivenom, scientists collect a the toxins in venom so that they can slow lorises lick or rub toxin-producing like that of the diamondback rattlesnake, sample of venom and inject it into an animal use those effects to our advan- glands on their arms to fill their AnTIvEnoM include toxins that prevent blood from clot- (see How Antivenom Is Made, p. 15). The tage—to treat disease. mouths with toxins. then they bite ting and cause their victims to bleed to death. dose is too low to hurt the injected animal. Take the toxins that potential predators. Every venomous species uses a slightly But the toxins trigger its disease-fighting prevent blood clots from e (Bee) C different mix of toxins that are specially immune system to produce antibodies— ational forming, says Elda E. Sanchez, n our SnAkE s BArk ScorpIon adapted to disable its targets. For snakes, specialized proteins that attack and disable e co-director of the National Natural MILkInG: C these arachnids use venom to prey on artore/ ien Researchers those targets are usually rodents and other those particular toxins. Scientists then collect s Toxins Research Center at Texas sC insects, spiders, and even other extract venom prey. But snakes may also strike people who the antibodies and turn them into antivenom. A&M. The large dose in a snakebite e from snakes C scorpions. their sting redrag redrag like the Gaboon make them feel threatened—and their toxins When a person comes into the hospital p is dangerous. “But when you isolate our can be life-threatening s viper (above) to can have similar lethal effects on us. with a snakebite, doctors first question the e those molecules,” says Sanchez, “they ott Camazine/ ott nti-venom); Joel nti-venom); C a mages; i to small children. make antivenom sC ien patient to try to find out what type of snake e ( can be used to [prevent] strokes and C and other drugs. sC etty g our TREATING TOXINS bit him or her. Antivenom works only on the / heart attacks, which are caused by s C e tinger); © orenz/ C s In the U.S., 8,000 to 10,000 people are type of venom from which it was made, so l blood clots.” e ( ien C bitten by dangerous snakes every year, doctors have to choose the right one. If they sC Scientists are discovering lots of new eographi g our s says Leslie Boyer, a toxinologist at the can’t identify the snake, the doctors use an e medical uses for venom ingredients. The C ovosti/ n ien ery; © Craig K. ery; University of Arizona. These bites antivenom made from a blend of venoms ational venom of the black mamba, an African snake discovered that melittin can also kill the K n ria have the potential to be deadly, but from snakes common to the area. Then they sC with one of the deadliest bites on Earth, dangerous HIV virus in a laboratory dish. ilet/ B edia Ba m inject it into the victim’s veins. ou contains toxins that numb its victims. Last these days, almost all snakebite enom); © Because venom is so useful in medicine, d v ed Kinsman/ t yELLoW- victims in the U.S. survive. That’s “The antibodies go into the person’s blood- avid year, scientists figured out how to separate it may ultimately save the lives of many more anting/ d BLoTcHED because scientists like stream,” says Boyer. “They go throughout l those compounds and turn them into a people than it kills, says Fry. Unfortunately, pALM pIT arvesting iper); © v h CORE vIpEr: Boyer have learned the body, and wherever they encounter the it painkilling drug. many venomous creatures are now critically p om ( Guatemala C how to make molecules of toxin, they neutralize it.” om; © Frans Others are studying melittin, the main endangered.
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