How To Make Antivenom

Bitten by a venomous snake? There's hope! French scientist Albert Calmette developed the first snake antivenom in the late 1890s, and did such a good job that we use his technique to this day. Antivenom works by stimulating the production of antibodies which can smother venom's toxic effects, preventing spread and rendering them harmless. But how do you make it? Well, stay tuned to this episode of SciShow to find out.

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[melpomeneouranos]

Yes, yes brain, let's watch this. It may come into use some day.

[QuirkyView]

Best line in the world right there. "To which I say... dang."

[gracefoskett]

Fun fact, the only plane allowed to fly in american airspace during the three days following 9/11 was a trans-continental flight to deliver rattlesnake anti-venom to a man in california

[ChampionElCid]

"so once you've got your bag of deadly snakes...."

I just love how casually he said that. Like yeah it's no problem to collect a whole bag full of small fast animals that could kill you in one bite.

[SupernalOne]

well put - though one can add that donor horses can be plasmapheresed, returning their red blood cells to their circulation, and then feeding them high-protein feed so they can recover from the blood-plasma loss more rapidly. Also, there is a lot of purification done to the antiserum so the bite victim gets a lower load of xenogenic horse serum protein - reduces the subsequent serum sickness

[kieransmith]

shouldn't albert calmette be in an episode of great minds?
i'd never heard of him, but antivenom as a whole has saved like thousands and thousands of lives now, so, idk, shouldn't he get an episode ?

[alvideos]

"To which I DANG." Burst out laughing XD

[gophop]

That guy is bad ass. Is he Chuck Norris' grandpa by any chance?

[holdshifttrun]

So with this Anti-Venom, can I defeat VENOM AND CARNAGE?

[ragnkja]

Snake handlers are commonly using the "make yourself immune" method. However, hyperimmunity must be frequently renewed, so after vacations, they are more vulnerable to the venom of the snakes they usually handle.

[DaebakMonkey]

So I have practiced mithridatism? I am a beekeeper and have been stung at least 100 times and used to get a reaction like everyone else but now only get a little bump about 1/4 the size of a mosquito bite.

[tacticalveterinarian]

Great educational video and explanation on anti venom production!

[VentiVonOsterreich]

Inject me non-lethal doses of snake venom now. I wanna live forever.

[vastowen]

This reminds me of something I heard about, some man took some extremely venomus spiders, and kept their babbies in his coat pocket, and at least five or six times a day, he would let it bite him, until an adult could bite him with almost no effects. Amazing.

[nbliciou]

What does a vegan do if they get bit by a venomous snake?

[hynjus]

Also forgot to mention, the original spelling of aluminium was in fact aluminum. The british were the ones who mangled it to fit in with the other metals.

[ymatT]

There should be more antibody carriers like that guy who did the transfusions. They should a ton of money for signing up.

[thesecondislander]

Thanks for being a good guy. The Internet needs more people like you!

[lordglobgalab]

Pffft a finger it's nothing I lose three of those every day

[daveliu]

"Only lost one finger..."
Dang.