A blow to the fight against snakebite

Kmech, Jonn

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(10)60941-5

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Years before, another fire destroyed over 80,000 specimens of snakes and more than 450,000 specimens of spiders and scorpions deposited at Instituto Butantan. The full legacy of this destruction has yet to be defined, since Butantan is a major center for toxins, vaccines, and antivenom research (Kmech, 2010 ).…”

Section: Natural History: a Discipline In Dangermentioning

confidence: 99%

The nature of science: The fundamental role of natural history in ecology, evolution, conservation, and education

Nanglu,

de Carle,

Cullen

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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There is a contemporary trend in many major research institutions to de‐emphasize the importance of natural history education in favor of theoretical, laboratory, or simulation‐based research programs. This may take the form of removing biodiversity and field courses from the curriculum and the sometimes subtle maligning of natural history research as a “lesser” branch of science. Additional threats include massive funding cuts to natural history museums and the maintenance of their collections, the extirpation of taxonomists across disciplines, and a critical under‐appreciation of the role that natural history data (and other forms of observational data, including Indigenous knowledge) play in the scientific process. In this paper, we demonstrate that natural history knowledge is integral to any competitive science program through a comprehensive review of the ways in which they continue to shape modern theory and the public perception of science. We do so by reviewing how natural history research has guided the disciplines of ecology, evolution, and conservation and how natural history data are crucial for effective education programs and public policy. We underscore these insights with contemporary case studies, including: how understanding the dynamics of evolutionary radiation relies on natural history data; methods for extracting novel data from museum specimens; insights provided by multi‐decade natural history programs; and how natural history is the most logical venue for creating an informed and scientifically literate society. We conclude with recommendations aimed at students, university faculty, and administrators for integrating and supporting natural history in their mandates. Fundamentally, we are all interested in understanding the natural world, but we can often fall into the habit of abstracting our research away from its natural contexts and complexities. Doing so risks losing sight of entire vistas of new questions and insights in favor of an over‐emphasis on simulated or overly controlled studies.

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Section: Natural History: a Discipline In Dangermentioning

confidence: 99%

The nature of science: The fundamental role of natural history in ecology, evolution, conservation, and education

Nanglu,

de Carle,

Cullen

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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“…One notable tragedy occurred in May 2010, when the famous and unique venomous animal collection at Instituto Butantan, Brazil, was destroyed by fire [8]. This huge, irreplaceable collection was a key research resource, and the loss of many holotype specimens and research data will likely impair toxinology research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical Toxinology

White¹

2011

Curr Infect Dis Rep

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Clinical toxinology is a specialized area of clinical medicine focused on the pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases caused by animal, plant, and fungal toxins. This review focuses on recent developments in snakebite. Snakebite is newly recognized as a Neglected Tropical Disease by the World Health Organization (WHO), reflecting the large human and economic cost of this disease. New WHO guidelines on antivenom production are available. The methods of producing antivenom and dosing are changing as understanding of envenoming improves. Lower antivenom doses in some regions are delivering equal outcomes, but antivenom cannot fully treat all envenoming types. Early antivenom treatment may reduce local tissue damage in some types of snakebite.

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