内容摘要：Employment Standards Administration, Office of Workers’ Comp Programs, Buffalo, N.Y. (2,168 square feet)

Employment Standards Administration, Office of Workers’ Comp Programs, Buffalo, N.Y. (2,168 square feet)

This photo provided by Centivax shows Mark Bellin and Hannah Hirou who are involved in efforts to produce an antivenom to counteract the bites of various snakes, at a lab in South San Francisco, Calif., in 2025. (Centivax via AP)When Columbia University’s Peter Kwong heard of Friede, he said, “Oh, wow, this is very unusual. We had a very special individual with amazing antibodies that he created over 18 years.”

In a study published Friday in the journal Cell, Kwong and collaborators shared what they were able to do with Friede’s unique blood: They identified two antibodies that neutralize venom from many different snake species with the aim of someday producing a treatment that could offer broad protection.It’s very early research — the antivenom was only tested in mice, and researchers are still years away from human trials. And while their experimental treatment shows promise against the group of snakes that include mambas and cobras, it’s not effective against vipers, which include snakes like rattlers.“Despite the promise, there is much work to do,” said Nicholas Casewell, a snakebite researcher at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in an email. Casewell was not involved with the new study.

Friede’s journey has not been without its missteps. Among them: He said after one bad snake bite he had to cut off part of his finger. And some particularly nasty cobra bites sent him to the hospital.Friede is now employed by Centivax, a company trying to develop the treatment and that helped pay for the study. He’s excited that his 18-year odyssey could one day save lives from snakebite, but his message to those inspired to follow in his footsteps is simple: “Don’t do it,” he said.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An astronaut who missed out on theBOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Lawmakers in Colombia on Wednesday once again blocked

efforts to overhaul the country’s labor laws, this time bythat would have asked voters whether workdays should be limited to eight hours and whether workers should receive double pay if they work during holidays.

Petro asked Congress earlier this month to approve the 12-question referendum to give voters a chance tothat lawmakers themselves had already rejected twice. He had warned lawmakers against blocking the referendum, saying before thousands of people gathered for a Labor Day demonstration on May 1 that if they did not approve it, Colombians would punish them at the polls during the 2026 legislative elections.