New Antidote for Snake Venom

Guest: Ken Shea, PhD, Chemistry Professor, University of California, Irvine Snake bites are relatively rare in the US, but globally they’re considered a serious threat. More than two-and-a-half million people suffer crippling injuries such as the loss of a limb each year from snake bites. More than 100,000 people die. But effective treatment and antidotes remain elusive – especially in poor, rural areas of Africa and Southeast Asia where the threat is greatest.  So there’s considerable excitement about the work being done by chemist Ken Shea at the University of California at Irvine. He’s developed an anti-venom that’s cheap to make, needs no refrigeration and appears to work on lots of different poisonous snake and insect venoms.