- Everybody needs a hobby, but we’ll pass on this one.
We all have our passions. Some people like classic cars, others are dedicated to fashion, and some folks collect sock puppets.
Tim Friede likes to get bitten by snakes. Venomous ones. Repeatedly.
Having been interested in all manner of slithering creatures all his life, some two decades ago, Friede decided to start letting venomous snakes bite him. He only partially motivated by a desire to find out what it’s like.
By allowing snakes to envenomate himself, Friede hopes to raise awareness of snakes and the global need for antivenom. He’s landed himself in the hospital several times, but you have to admit — you won’t forget about a guy like this.
Eventually, Friede’s venomous quest brought him together with scientists trying to create a universal antivenom. To make such a potent potion, however, they needed to find someone who had developed antibodies to virtually all types of snake venoms.
Friede was just the man, and thanks to his hobby of getting bitten by snakes, he now has a high-ranking position in a pharmaceutical company developing antivenoms.
So, don’t let anyone tell you that your bizarre hobby is a waste of time.
A Lifelong Passion
Meet Tim Friede. Like most little boys, he had something of an obsession with reptilian creatures as a kid.
In Friede’s case, he liked snakes. As a kid in Wisconsin, he used prowl the grounds looking for and picking up garter snakes.
Gradually, the years went by, but Friede’s snake obsession didn’t let go. It changed, though — he became fascinated by venomous snakes in particular.
Not only was Friede interested in the snakes themselves, but the dangers they pose to people, especially in poor developing countries. He wanted to do his part in raising awareness of the need for better snake antivenoms.
But he was just some dude from Wisconsin. What could he do?
Well, he figured the best way would be to let the snakes bite him.
A Simple Relationship
The first time Friede submitted himself to a venomous snake bite was in 2001. He let a cobra sink its teeth into his arm.
He chose cobras for a couple of reasons. First, he knew they were really dangerous. Second, he didn’t have access to other snakes, so he made do.
“My first couple bites were really crazy,” Friede told NPR. “It’s like a bee sting times a thousand.”
Friede was incredibly anxious before his first bites — and for a good reason. Things didn’t go exactly smoothly at first.
“I was put in ICU after two cobra bites and I dropped in a coma for four days,” he admitted.
Yet, Friede pulled through, and he learned something new from each envenomation. That allowed him to progress into other, much deadlier snakes.
To date, Friede thinks he’s been bitten by around 200 times by increasingly venomous snakes. The list includes cobras, black mambas, taipans, and kraits.
By allowing the snakes to bite him, Friede hoped that his body might some day help researchers develop new antivenoms. Yet, he finds all these deadly creatures delightfully simple to understand.
“They want to kill me. I want to survive,” he summarized their relationship.
‘We Need Your Blood’
Eventually, Friede’s wish came true. He was contacted by Jacob Glanville.
Glanville, the CEO of biotech firm Centivax, had hoped to create a universal snake antivenom. So far, antivenoms have been snake-specific — which can be kind of a bummer if you get bitten and nobody has the right juice at hand to keep you alive.
However, Glanville faced an issue. Most snake antivenoms are derived from animals, such as horses, that are injected with venom. Researchers then extract the antibodies the animals’ bodies produce to make antivenom.
For his universal cure, Glanville needed somebody who had been exposed again and again to a whole slew of different snake venoms.
Somebody like Friede.
“You’re the guy I’m looking for. We need your blood. We need your antibodies,” Friede remembered Glanville telling him on their first meeting.
That’s a little creepy, but then again, it was exactly what Friede was hoping for. So, he accepted Glanville’s offer to help develop the antivenom.
The Mother of All Antivenoms
Centivax’s researchers took blood samples from Friede and began investigating the snake venom antibodies they found. In the crimson juice, they discovered a jackpot.
“We found the ultra-broad antibody that had this very remarkable ability to go bind right on the conserved site that the neurotoxin uses to cause paralysis,” explained Glanville.
The results of Centivax’s research have now been published in the journal Cell. They are quite promising.
Just the one antibody found in Friede rendered mice virtually immune to venom from five different snakes, including the black mamba.
Yet, to make the antivenom even more potent, the researchers added in an already known compound that works against other venoms. Voila — this antivenom protects mice completely from 13 snakes and partially from six.
Of course, this isn’t a miracle cure. There are snakes that the antivenom doesn’t work on, and even those that it does work for might sometimes produce surprising reactions.
Yet, for his part Friede is happy. Not only is he now the director of herpetology at Centivax, but he’s overjoyed that all those snakebites haven’t been for nothing.
“I really couldn’t believe it. I know I’m doing something for humanity and giving back to science,” said Friede.
At Glanville’s recommendation, Friede hasn’t let snakes bite him for years anymore. Strangely, he misses the mental challenge stemming from trying to live through the venom’s effects.
“To know you can beat that and keep your calm and keep your cool, it’s a wonderful thing,” he mused.