Snake

2022 - 6 - 20

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Image courtesy of "6PR"

Snake venom used to save lives: From the battlefield to the hospital ... (6PR)

Professor Alan Rowan, Director of the Australian Institue for Bioengineering & Nanotechnology, told Gareth Parker that their research into Australian snakes and ...

“Bleeding to death turns out to be one of the major causes “of soldiers dying but also of car crashes,” he said. “We don’t go out and catch the venom from snakes because these turn out to be pretty bad-tempered snakes,” he explained. “We grow the protein inside the lab and use it in wounds.”

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Image courtesy of "Brisbane Times"

How snake venom could save lives on the battlefield and the ... (Brisbane Times)

Researchers at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at the University of Queensland have found that a combination of two venoms from ...

UQ Postdoctoral Research Fellow Amanda Kijas has found that the venom from two snakes – the saw-scaled viper and the famous eastern brown snake – can be combined to create a compound which stops bleeding by forming clots very quickly. The team has developed the compound into a gel that is liquid at room temperature but becomes a sticky film when applied to a wound, covering it like gauze. Researchers at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at the University of Queensland have found that a combination of two venoms from different species of snake is very effective at creating and maintaining blood clots.

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Image courtesy of "9News"

How deadly snakes could soon save lives and heal wounds (9News)

Venom from some of the world's deadliest snakes could soon be used to heal wounds and save lives as bleeding patients are transferred to hospital.

An untreated bite can kill in under half an hour. "The research shows there is five times less blood loss, and clots form three times more quickly when the venom gel is applied, compared to the body's natural process. The research team from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) is working on a "venom gel", which has received follow-on funding from the United States Department of Defence.

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Image courtesy of "UQ News"

Deadly snakes could save your life (UQ News)

Some of the world's deadliest snakes could soon be saving lives, with research from The University of Queensland showing venom could be used to stop ...

The venom gel is being tested in pre-clinical evaluations and is being scaled-up toward commercial application in collaboration with Professor Mark Midwinter from UQ’s School of Biomedical Sciences. “The research shows there is five times less blood loss, and clots form three times more quickly when the venom gel is applied, compared to the body’s natural process. “When a traumatic injury occurs, the complexity of the healing process overloads the body’s capacity to control the bleeding,” Dr Kijas said. “As many as 40 per cent of trauma-related deaths are the result of uncontrolled bleeding, and this figure is much higher when it comes to military personnel with serious bleeding in a combat zone,” Dr Kijas said. The team is working on a gel that could be sold in pharmacies, added to first aid kits, and used by paramedics or military personnel in combat zones, to stop bleeding while a patient is taken to hospital. Some of the world’s deadliest snakes could soon be saving lives, with research from The University of Queensland showing venom could be used to stop uncontrolled bleeding.

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