NARRATOR: Being an explorer means facing your fears.
ZOLTAN: My new friend!
Very, very nice!
If you don’t like scorpions, don’t bring a UV light to the desert,
because you will realize how many scorpions you have all around you.
NARRATOR: Zoltan Takacs likes venomous creatures.
He searches for them, by night, and by day.
ZOLTAN: I’m a biomedical scientist, researching the deadliest animal venoms for
life saving medications.
Ah!
I travel the entire world in search of the most deadly creatures on planet earth.
Snakes, spiders, scorpions, jellyfish.
You name it, I love to catch.
I’m in Arizona, this is one of the most beautiful places in the U.S.
just see it, it’s absolutely, absolutely, absolutely amazing.
I have been to 184 countries, but I always love to come back here,
because this is the home for rattlesnakes, for scorpions, for the Gila monster.
Back in the lab we have the most modern gadgets of molecular biology but here in
the field, this is all I need, a stick and a knife.
You know this place is full with surprises, good surprises.
But you don’t know when it’s going to happen.
Snake!!
NARRATOR: Rattlesnakes make a warning sound.
(Rattle).
Remember: Zoltan is an expert.
Never get this close.
Because their bite is filled with deadly venom.
ZOLTAN: Animal venoms have been evolving for hundreds of millions of years to
immobilize and kill.
In less than one minute they can kill you.
But what makes these toxins so powerfully lethal also can be
used to make life saving medications.
NARRATOR: Zoltan’s lab just needs a small blood sample.
But that’s easier said than done.
ZOLTAN: This is very dangerous because you actually are holding a highly venomous
snake in your hand.
The fangs just being a couple of inches away from your hand.
You’re looking for the heart.
And you see sometimes the scales are pulsating.
And that’s where you insert the needle, but you have to be very careful.
You don’t want to hurt the snake.
From that blood we can isolate the genetic blueprint for every single toxin.
I’m looking for toxin diversity, because the more diverse toxins I take to the
lab, the better toxin libraries we can build.
And all of a sudden you may hold a lifesaving medication in your hand from the
deadliest animal venom.
Done deal.
Now I got what I need and I can let the snake go free back in the place where I caught it.
NARRATOR: The snake is unharmed.
Next stop: the lab, to turn this deadly venom into medicine.
ZOLTAN: In the U.S., out of the top three heart attack medications,
two of them are coming from snake venoms.
NARRATOR: It’s a reminder to respect all animals, especially the dangerous ones.
ZOLTAN: I know many people, don’t really like snakes.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a fan of snakes or you hate snakes.
At the end of the day they can save your life.
