Good Old Venom

The collection of snake venom has been a practice for over 80 years. Old school venom extractions where collected from wild snake populations. These samples were being collected in the hope to produce an antivenin and potentially save thousands of lives in the future. This was a very dangerous job, when a bite was more than often fatal. This was a time of real scientists and reptile enthusiast who put their life on the line for the benefit of scientific breakthroughs. Some of the samples collected were stored away 80 years and had not seen the light of day until now.

 Roy Mackay, Neville Goddard and Kevin Budden

Live Taipan Expedition Cairns 1949

While Brian Fry was going through an old store room he discovered and old box which contained a priceless tressure, 80 year old snake venom samples. These vials contain venom form mostly Acanthophis, Notechis, Oxyuranus and Pseudechis species. These samples where particularly valuable as some of the Notechis samples where from threatened island populations which are currently in decline. Venom from these populations have been rarely collected in the last 50 to 80 years. One sample carried the memory of Kevin Budden who died in 1950 following a Coastal Taipan bite. The sample was from the first Coastal Taipan collected for antivenin production and the same animal that took Kevin Budden's life.

 Bill Haast with a King Cobra

Source: http://billhaast.com/photo_gallery.html

29/05/14 18:00

A study was conducted to compare the old freeze dried sample with newly collected samples to determine if the vintage venom proteins were still intact and if they were still active after all this time. The results showed that the vintage venom was only slightly less potent than the freshly collected samples. Over time there had been some changes in a couple of the protein structures which means that these vintage samples would not be ideal for the production of antivenins. However, these samples remain a valuable resource for venom evolutionary studies as these are the only samples currently at researcher’s disposal.

 Bill Haast, Venom extraction, African Puff Adder

Photograph By Bill Anderson

This discovery also opens the door to new venom storage techniques, which could potentially change the way collection of venom is practiced. This is important when considering rare and endangered species. The ability to store venom for a long period of time means less disturbances and pressures on delicate ecosystems as less individuals are required for research. This understanding of venom shelf life means that new discoveries may continue in the unfortunate event that threatened species disappear along with their secrets.

References:

Jesupret, C., Baumann, K., Jackson, T. N., Ali, S. A., Yang, D. C., Greisman, L., ... & Fry, B. G. (2014). Vintage Venoms: Proteomic And Pharmacological Stability Of Snake Venoms Stored For Up To Eight Decades. Journal of proteomics.