Scientists at the University of Sydney and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine - LSTM have discovered a commonly used blood thinner, heparin, can be repurposed as an inexpensive antidote for cobra venom. Cobras kill thousands of people a year worldwide and up to a hundred thousand more are seriously injured. Current antivenom treatment is expensive and does not effectively treat the necrosis of the flesh where the bite occurs. The team are using CRISPR gene-editing technology to identify ways

You've heard of the king cobra, right? But wait, it's not just one species—there are actually four king cobra species, as per. a new study. The research, led by biologist P. Gowri Shankar, shows genetic and morphological differences across king cobras from India to Southeast Asia. The four species are O. hannah, O. bungarus, O. kaalinga, and O. salvatana. The study also highlights the need for species-specific antivenoms, as current treatments may not be effective across all king cobra species.