The Atlantic: There’s a Perfectly Good Reason to Mass-Produce Snake Venom

Deaths from snake bites are between 81,000 and 138,000 per year however it’s not considered a major health crisis like it should be. Antivenom is becoming more expensive and the methods to study venom are dangerous because it involves extracting venom from live snakes. However, three Ph.D. students might have found a solution by growing replicas of venom glands. The students used Hans Clevers’ techniques of soaking stem cells in certain chemicals to grow mini-organs called organoids. These organoids have much of the same structure and features as the actual organs. Growing snake venom glands would allow safer and more effective studying of the venom to produce better antivenom. To read the full article click here.