Clodomiro Picado, one of Costa Rica’s foremost scientists, conducted research on venomous snakes in Central America in the early-20th century and advocated for better products tailored to the types of snakes that lived in the area.
The institute now named after him — the University of Costa Rica’s Clodomiro Picado Institute — is one of few in the world helping people bitten by snakes in Latin America and Africa. Before the institute was created, people in Costa Rica and surrounding countries often relied on antivenoms from as far away as Brazil or elsewhere.
The trouble is, antivenoms must be tailored to a particular species.
This is partly due to venoms naturally being tailored to the prey that lives in a particular area. In some cases, even the venoms of snakes within the same species differ substantially; antivenom based on the deadly fer-de-lance from Brazil, for example, may not be as effective in Central America.
Therefore, the first step in making the right antivenom is finding the right kind of snake.
