Biting Back by Scholastic Slide 1 How to

Biting Back by: Scholastic ● ● Slide 1 How to collect venom Technicians grab snakes heads and direct them toward a cup covered with plastic film. The snake strikes the cup injecting venom, filling the cup. The technician later extracts and purifies the venom. Then he sends it to research facilities that study snakes and their harmful effects.

Slide 2: How anti-venom is made 1. A technician purifies venom from the snake species that the scientists wants to make antivenom out of. 2. A harmless dose of venom is injected into a horse and initiates the horse's anti-bodies to start neutralizing the toxins in the venom. 3. Over a period of time more venom is injected into the horse making the anti-bodies immune to snake venom.

Slide 2 Continued 4. The rancher extracts the blood containing the antibodies. 5. The plasma is sent to a lab, purified, and packaged as freeze-dry powder. 6. When a patient comes to a hospital with a snake bite the doctor uses and IV line to inject the anti-venom into the patient's veins. The antibodies circulate and neutralize the toxin molecules.

Slide 3: Snake bites and their effects ● ● ● Rattlesnakes- Bleeding, trouble breathing, low blood pressure, change in skin tone, numbness, and pain at sight of bite. Cottonmouths/Copperheads- Swelling, shock, nausea and vomiting, and thirst. Coral Snakes- Slurred speech, paralysis, weakness, and swallowing difficulty.

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