Poison pass: the man who became immune to snake venom

Rock singer Steve Ludwin has been injecting himself with snake venom for 30 years. In a strange twist, his bizarre habit could now save thousands of lives. His former partner Britt Collins tells his outlandish storySometime in 2006, when my ex-boyfriend failed to show up for dinner, I assumed something was wrong or perhaps he ’d forgotten. About a week later, calling to apologise, he told me he’d had an overdose, accidentally injecting a lethal cocktail of venom from three snakes. A lot has been written aboutSteve Ludwin, widely known as the man who injects snake venom, and lately his life has turned into a non-stop frenzy of international journalists and film crews revelling in the seeming sheer insanity of it.Steve was once my great love; an animal lover, vegan and musician who wrote songs forPlacebo andAsh, and played theReading festival withNirvana. In between tours and recordings he dabbled with snake venom. In his latest incarnation as a self-taught snake expert, moulding himself into the role of a lifetime, he appears as a kind of living specimen and star in a short film at the Natural History Museum ’s new exhibition,Venom: Killer and Cure.Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - February 11, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Britt Collins Tags: Snakes Culture Animals Environment Music Wildlife World news Medical research Science Source Type: news