Will protein design tools solve the snake antivenom shortage?

Or one man with more than 200 bites and more than 700 injections of venom he prepared from some of the world&#x27;s deadliest snakes[0].<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;cr5d0l7el36o" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;cr5d0l7el36o</a>

Recent Derek Lowe article on antivenom: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.science.org&#x2F;content&#x2F;blog-post&#x2F;whole-lotta-snakin-going" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.science.org&#x2F;content&#x2F;blog-post&#x2F;whole-lotta-snakin...</a>

I recently watched this YouTube documentary about a Borneo tribe, barely clinging onto their traditional ways&#x2F;knowledge (displaced by the logging industry) who used a plant as a supposedly universal snake bite remedy ... I wonder if there was ever a scientific study of how effective it actually is?<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=TiQBTesZUJQ" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=TiQBTesZUJQ</a>

Related : <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=43708841">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=43708841</a>

The shortage is already rather artificial. A snakebite treatment that costs $150k in the USA is just a few hundred dollars in Mexico.

I live in an area with tons of rattlesnakes and deal with at least 6-10 per year on my property. They generally just want to be left alone which I usually oblige unless they are near the house or shop. I heard an old timer say that the majority of snake bite victims in our area are young males and the most common pre-bite words are &quot;hold my beer, watch this.&quot;