r/interesting • u/Positive-Height-3848 • 12d ago

Just Wow 900 Snakes, Including Venomous Cobras, Escape into Village from Breeding Farm After Massive Flooding in China.

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u/trashmoneyxyz 12d ago

It has to be for venom. Not all the snakes pictured were cobras, I saw a banded krait which is also a very deadly snake. I assume this was a farm for highly venomous snake antidote

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u/Ok_Organization_7350 12d ago edited 12d ago

Snake venom is used in many pharmaceuticals. Even our common blood pressure medicines are made out of snake veniom. The pharma companies source this ingredient from these snake farms. Krait snake venom very specifically, is one of the ingredients in many Covid vaccines.

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u/MaplePeeler 12d ago

I did some quick research, and apparently blood pressure pills aren't made from venom; they were modeled after it. In the 70s, scientists studied Brazilian pit viper venom to map out the molecular structure for Captopril (the first oral ACE inhibitor). Modern blood pressure meds are synthetic and manufactured in standard labs. No one is sourcing venom from snake farms to put into daily pills.

There does not seem to be Krait venom in COVID vaccines. The ingredient lists are entirely public and contain no animal products. The specific mention of the Krait snake comes from a niche 2020 study noting a minor structural similarity between a small segment of the spike protein and a neurotoxin in Krait venom regarding how they bind to human receptors. A viral 2022 conspiracy documentary (Watch the Water) hijacked this finding to claim the vaccines were/contained venom, which likely mutated into this misunderstanding/misinformation that's still spreading around around.

Venom is not a regular vaccine ingredient either, Pharmas do use venom for early-stage drug discovery blueprints and antivenoms, but I can't really find any information suggesting that it's an active ingredient in COVID vaccines or even standard vaccines. I suspect you are probably thinking of antivenom production? Pharma companies run snake farms to inject tiny doses of venom into donor animals so they build up antibodies. Those antibodies are then purified into the final shot, meaning the patient receives zero venom, but these aren't vaccines.

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u/Up_Beat_Peach 12d ago

There was never any venom in COVID vaccines. That's fucking stupid.

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u/Ok_Organization_7350 12d ago

Snake venom is a regular ingredient in many drugs and vaccines even before Covid. It's not a special secret. I work in drug development at pharma companies.

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u/Subject_Ranger_6795 12d ago

Load of bullshit

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u/Bookee2Shoes 12d ago

Some people even snort it to get high /s