We all know we’re suppose to rush to a hospital and get some anti-venom after we’ve been bitten by a snake, but what is anti-venom and how does it work?

Anti-venom has been around for at least a 100 years during which the technique of producing it hasn’t altered a lot.

Here’s the age-old recipe to save a life: Take one very large animal – usually a horse and inject this animal with small amounts of the snake’s poison. Continue doing this for about eight months insuring that the horse becomes super-immune to the poison. After eight months you can start to draw small amounts of serum from the horse, which you then need to purify into immunoglobulins. These then need to be split into smaller components such as FAB or the FAB-prime-2 which can then be injected into a person bitten by the same snake. The FAB-gang seeks out the poison and immobilise it – leaving you with a healthy individual thankful to be alive.

• Read about the new anti-venom that could save even more lives
• More on antibodies and how they work
• What’s that snake? A snake ID tool
• If you see any ofthese snakes, you’d better (literally) run for your life!
• An anaconda snake measuring over six meters and weighing nearly 200 kilos was captured in the backyard of an abandoned house in Parana, Brazil. Watch the video (if you dare!)