Snakes and their poisons

I want to know how anti- snake venoms are made and how they can be used to treat snake poisons.

Raheem (by SMS)

Even though the world’s most poisonous snake can kill even an elephant, but there is one animal that survives, the horse. No matter how deadly a snake is, even the fearsome king cobra, a horse doesn’t die from its bite. After the bite, the horse may become mildly ill for about three days, but then recover completely, as if nothing had happened.

It is for this reason that most anti-snake venoms are made by the help of horses. First, the venom is collected from the snakes. A small amount is then injected into the horse. The horse’s immune system responds and produces antibodies to neutralize the venom.

After 2-3 days, these antibodies are present in the horse’s blood. Blood is then drawn from the horse and the red blood cells (RBCs) are removed. The plasma (the white part) is processed to create anti-venom. This anti-venom is then injected into people who have been bitten by poisonous snakes to save their lives.