Reptile-loving blogger David Manly tackles the subject of fear of snakes, venomous and otherwise.

From his blog on Scientific American:

Let's face it. Snakes are not most people's favorite animals. They slink and slither without making much noise, have a forked tongue with unblinking eyes, and fangs that bite or coils that wrap. Some snakes are so dangerous that people have died from the encounter.

According to a 2010 report by the World Health Organization, at least 20,000 people are killed by poisonous snakebites every year. Not surprisingly, snakes are commonly feared, disliked, and even hated.

And yet, snakes are some of my favorite animals, and I have been bitten more than my fair share. When I tell the stories of how I've been bitten, I always acknowledge that it was my fault, and that the snakes were acting solely out of instinct and self-preservation.

Yet he moves gracefully from the fear to something more important to medical science, and that is how venom can be used to save lives, with the help of kingsnake.com BFF Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry:

However, as venom continues to evolve, this creates areas Fry calls "hot spots," where venoms have evolved radically and could result in a decrease in the ability for antivenom to do its job. However, as dangerous as the situation can be, there is also opportunity.

These "hot spots" are where novel toxins will appear within venom, which can then be studied and analyzed for future use in drug design and development.

"Venoms have had a huge role in drug design and development such as Captropril, a high blood pressure medication developed from the study of the venom of Bothrops jararaca, [which] kill more people than any other in the region," said Fry.

Therefore, not only has antivenom saved countless people from pain, limb loss, and even death, but the study of venom has also helped develop various products that increase human health.

Not too bad for an animal long thought to symbolize evil.

To read the full blog post, click here.