Researchers engineer potent antivenom using rattlesnake blood proteins, outperforming current treatment

University of Maryland biologists discovered that specific toxin-inhibiting proteins naturally present in rattlesnake blood can be blended to form a highly effective antivenom. Individual FETUA proteins, such as FETUA-3, modestly reduced venom damage, but when combined they completely neutralized lethal effects of western diamondback rattlesnake venom and protected against several other viper species. In controlled laboratory experiments the protein cocktails were about ten times more potent than one outlet commercial antivenom derived from sheep antibodies.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, highlights the evolutionary advantage snakes have against self-envenomation and proposes recombinant, nature-derived antivenoms as a future alternative. Researchers are now extending the approach to other toxin families, aiming for broad-spectrum, low-cost treatments for both veterinary and human snakebites. Funding came from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Viper Resource Center.