A newly approved antivenin should save people bitten by rattlesnakes in the
US. “We hope that it works faster and with fewer side effects,” says Arthur
Rushton of Protherics, the British company that developed the treatment.
Rattlesnakes bite thousands of Americans each year. The existing antivenin,
derived from horses, often leads to a fever called serum sickness. The new
treatment contains purified sheep antibodies against venom from the four major
US rattlers, and so is free of the protein impurities thought to cause serum
sickness (New Scientist, 3 February 1996, p 18).
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
The world's fastest spider tops 3.5 metres per second
2
Where, when and how to watch the 2026 solar eclipse
3
Babies are born with the neural foundations for maths
4
Slowdown of AMOC ocean current may be gradual and reversible
5
We’ve uncovered a master gene that switches on human development
6
The best new science-fiction novels published in July 2026
7
I’m the first person whose life was saved by CRISPR base editing
8
US government wants to have a useful quantum computer by 2028
9
Remote-controlled cockroach swarm can now breathe underwater
10
The race to understand how and when Thwaites glacier will collapse



