The eastern brown and scaly viper of Australia is deadly Poison snake. You certainly don’t want to meet them in the wild, as just one bite can kill you. However, scientists at the University of Queensland believe the same deadly venom could be used to save lives. Their new study has shown that venom from those two snakes can be used to stop uncontrolled bleeding.
Oriental brown snake is deadly – its venom can kill you. In other contexts, however, it can actually save you money. Image credit: Bernard DUPONT via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The Eastern brown snake, also known as the common brown snake, is a highly venomous venomous snake. In fact, it is often considered the second most venomous terrestrial snake in the world, after the inland taipan, which also lives in Australia. Some people collapse just 2 minutes after being bitten, but usually death occurs a little longer than that. Now scientists want to use that venom to treat wounds. In fact, scientists are trying to get this venom to pharmacies so people can buy it.
Scientists are creating a gel that could be included in first aid kits to treat uncontrolled bleeding. It is known from statistics that 40% of trauma-related deaths are caused by bleeding. Meanwhile these snakes kill animals and humans by causing blood clotting. It doesn’t take much imagination to see that in some cases, rapid blood clotting can actually be beneficial. For example, after getting a chainsaw wound in the woods or a shrapnel going through the battlefield.
The researchers found that the protein from the venom of the brown and eastern scaly viper could be used to speed up the body’s natural blood clotting process. Now they’re working on a gel, which can be applied directly to the wound, delivers those proteins and essentially stops bleeding very quickly. Scientists believe that snake venom-based treatments can enhance the body’s ability to heal major wounds.
Amanda Kijas, the study’s lead author, said: “Nature has created the most delicate and elegant mechanisms, and we can use them to save lives from uncontrolled bleeding. Research shows that blood loss is 5 times less and blood clots form 3 times faster when the venom gel is applied, compared to the body’s natural process.”
The proteins in snake venom are so powerful that they could save people with hemophilia and those taking blood-thinning medications. Currently, snake venom-based gels are being tested in preclinical evaluations and are being expanded for commercial application.
Although deadly, snake venom is just another substance from nature’s rich library. It is just another material that we need to use to our advantage. If we do that, we’ll see huge benefits – snake venom could save more lives in battlefields and workplaces than in Australia’s brush.
Source: University of Queensland
