Venom Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
- This article is about the toxin. For other meanings, see Venom (disambiguation)
Bees use an acidic venom designed to cause pain to the stung, because their purpose is to defend their home and food stores, while wasps use a chemically different venom designed to paralyze the prey, so it can be stored alive in the food chambers of their young. The use of venom is much more widespread than just these examples, of course.
Antivenom (or antivenin) is used in the treatment of venomous bites. It is created by injecting a small amount of the targeted venom into an animal such as a horse, a goat, or a rabbit; the subject animal will suffer an immune response to the venom, producing antibodies against the venom's active molecule which can then be harvested from the animal's blood and used to treat envenomation in others.
