Snakes are one of the most feared animals in the world, and it is not without good reason. About 138,000 people per year die from snakebites according to the World Health Organization, and many more experience permanent health problems because of them.

While a fear of snakes may seem natural to most people, one Wisconsin man seems to go in the opposite direction. Since 2001, 57-year-old Tim Friede has been bitten by snakes over 200 times, and all of them are venomous. He isn’t a careless hiker or zookeeper who keeps getting bitten by accident, but instead he intentionally allowed himself to get bitten.

As if that weren’t enough, he also injected himself with more than 650 doses of snake venom over the years. His goal was to build up a tolerance to snake venom, and it seems that he has been very successful.

Scientists have studied his blood and found that he has some very incredible antibodies that are able to neutralize the toxins in the venom. These antibodies could be used to create an antivenom that could help to save countless lives.

Antivenom is typically made by injecting a horse or other animal with the venom of a specific  type of snake, and then taking their antibodies and using them to develop the antivenom. While effective, it means that each type of snake requires its own specialized antivenom, which makes it very time consuming and costly. This is not good when snake bites can be deadly in just hours or less, plus most deadly snake bites take place in poorer nations and in places that are far away from medical facilities that have the antivenom.

Researchers studied Friede’s blood extensively and combined it with existing treatments for snake venom, finding that it is able to provide protection against the venom of 19 different species of snake. Their findings are published in a new study in the journal Cell.

This is a particularly impressive achievement since different species don’t just have different strengths of venom, but they actually work to kill in entirely different ways. Some snake venoms are hemotoxins that disrupt blood clotting and cause hemorrhaging. Others are cytoxins that cause your flesh to rot. Others are neurotoxins that attack the nervous system and cause paralysis. Having a way to protect against all of these types of venoms (and more) is a major breakthrough.

While Friede is done injecting himself with venom or intentionally getting bitten by snakes, he is very happy that his dangerous work is now being used to hopefully save the lives of many people. He talked with the New York Times and said:

“I’m really proud that I can do something in life for humanity, to make a difference for people that are 8,000 miles away, that I’m never going to meet, never going to talk to, never going to see, probably.”

The concoction made from his blood was able to provide mice with full protection against 13 different species of snake bit, and partial protection against six more. The protection does not extend to viper bites, which are among the most common, but it may be possible to add that protection to future tests.

Additional research and testing is needed before a ‘universal anti-venom’ can be produced and distributed to places around the world, but this study is a major step in that direction. If researchers are able to create the universal antivenom, Friede’s blood would undoubtedly be responsible for saving the lives of millions of people in the coming years.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.