Snakes | Spiders | Jellyfish | Other
I am a Jehovah's Witness and would like to know more about antivenom and how it is made ?
Antivenom is made from blood plasma. In most but not all cases it comes from the blood of horses. For example, Australian snake antivenoms are made in horses but the standard American rattlesnake antivenom is now made in sheep. Other examples are the funnel web spider antivenom that is made in rabbits and the box jellyfish antivenom that is made in sheep. In these cases the antivenom is not blood or plasma itself but a purified fraction of that plasma, specifically refined antibody fragments. Due to the complexity of venom it seems unlikely that synthetic, non-blood product related antivenoms will be commercially produced in the near future.
Last updated: August 2005
