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googlecansuckithard t1_ivrxgad wrote

Reply to comment by Brandon432 in How does extracting venom from animals help us create antidotes? by asafen

Correct me if im wrong, but antibodies are an immune response to biologicals such as viruses, bacteria, prions, etc. - not a reaction to purely chemical substances built from amino acids like vennom.

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Brandon432 t1_ivt4so8 wrote

That’s incorrect. Body develops antibodies (also known as immunoglobulin) to most foreign substances (known as antigens). Virus, bacteria, fungi, allergens, toxins, venom, etc..

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Rather_Dashing t1_ivupy8z wrote

Venoms are mostly proteins, so yes of course they can be a target of antibodies. Antibodies recognise fairly short fragments of proteins, not an entire virus or bacteria.

Also venoms are biological, and I don't think purely chemical means anything, everything is chemical

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Otterly_Magic t1_ivxp3dx wrote

To add just a little bit to this: a “chemical” built purely “from amino acids” has a very good chance of being a protein or a peptide (aka miniprotein). Especially if it is coming from a biological source, such as a snake’s venom.

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googlecansuckithard t1_iw1ombl wrote

Where the implucation would seem to be that proteins and peptides tend to be fragments of DNA/RNA in the biological context.

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