Speaking of venom....

- There's are around 3,000 species of snakes worldwide but only about 450 carry any kind of venom, only about half of those have venom dangerous enough to kill humans.

- Pit viper venom products are used to prevent post-surgical clotting in cardiac patients.

- There is a study going on with copperhead viper venom that is showing the protein from this venom can slow the growth of breast cancer cells.

- One of the most exciting current studies uses a drug created from the venom from Malayan pit viper. It may save a lot of stroke victims and give them a better post-stroke quality of life. Current "clot busting" drugs must be given within 3 hours of the stroke, but this new drug can be given within 6 hours. Doubling this window of opportunity is a huge step forward in stroke treatment especially with an aging US population.