Snake venom may help prevent strokes, heart attacks

Venom from the Southeast Asia pit viper (Deinagkistrodon acutus) may help stop human heart attacks and strokes. From the Montreal Gazette report on the Canadian study:

Using venom milked from the snake, researchers filtered out all but one protein to create a drug called Anfibatide, which in human testing prevented blood clots from forming but didn't prolong bleeding as is the case with some clot-busting drugs. "The concept that we can harness something potentially poisonous in nature and turn it into a beneficial therapy is very exciting," said Dr. Heyu Ni, a scientist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto involved in the drug's development. Anfibatide is designed to target a specific receptor on the surface of platelets in the blood that is instrumental in the formation of clots.

Read the rest here. Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - St. Michael's Hospital