Tim Friede has been bitten by snakes hundreds of times—often on purpose. Now scientists are studying his blood in hopes of creating a better treatment for snake bites. Friede has long had a fascination with reptiles and other venomous creatures. He used to milk scorpions' and spiders' venom as a hobby and kept dozens of snakes at his Wisconsin home. Hoping to protect himself from snake bites—and out of what he calls "simple curiosity"—he began injecting himself with small doses of snake venom and then slowly increased the amount to try to build up tolerance. He would then let snakes bite him. "At first, it was very scary," says Friede, per the AP. "But the more you do it, the better you get at it, the more calm you become with it."
While no doctor or emergency medical technician—or anyone, really—would ever suggest this is a remotely good idea, experts say his method tracks how the body works. When the immune system is exposed to the toxins in snake venom, it develops antibodies that can neutralize the poison. If it's a small amount of venom, the body can react before it's overwhelmed. And if it's venom the body has seen before, it can react more quickly and handle larger exposures.
- Friede emailed every scientist he could find, asking them to study the tolerance he'd built up. And there is a need: Around 110,000 people die from snake bites every year, according to the World Health Organization. And making antivenom is expensive and difficult.
- When Columbia University's Peter Kwong heard of Friede, he said, "Oh, wow, this is very unusual. We had a very special individual with amazing antibodies that he created over 18 years."
- In a study published Friday in the journal Cell, Kwong and collaborators shared what they were able to do with Friede's unique blood: They identified two antibodies that neutralize venom from many different snake species with the aim of someday producing a treatment that could offer broad protection.
- It's very early research—the antivenom was only tested in mice, and researchers are still years away from human trials. And while their experimental treatment shows promise against the group of snakes that include mambas and cobras, it's not effective against vipers, which include snakes like rattlers.
- Friede's journey has not been without its missteps. Among them: He said after one bad snake bite he had to cut off part of his finger. And some particularly nasty cobra bites sent him to the hospital.
- Friede is now employed by Centivax, a company trying to develop the treatment. It helped pay for the study. He's excited that his 18-year odyssey could one day save lives from snake bites, but his message to those inspired to follow in his footsteps is simple: "Don't do it."
- The 58-year-old tells the New York Times that he has been fascinated by snakes since he was bitten by a harmless garter snake when he was five years old. He hasn't ruled out being bitten again, but his last bite was from a water cobra in 2018. "I'll probably get back into it in the future," he says. "But for right now, I'm happy where things are at."
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