Scientists from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) are working toward the development of a universal anti-venom that can be used for the bite of all of the snakes in sub-Saharan Africa with the aid of a new technique dubbed antivenomics.

The technique can help improve the potency of extracting snake venom and thus the potency of the antidote. Scientists hope that this breakthrough could help save thousands of lives per year.

In sub-Saharan Africa, snake bites cause the death of 32,000 people per year. Some of those who manage to survive likewise suffer from serious effects with snake bites permanently disabling 96,000 people in the region annually.