Instituto Butantan (in modern Portuguese, Instituto Butantã, ) is a Brazilian biologic research center located in Butantã, in the western part of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Instituto Butantan is a public institution affiliated with the São Paulo State Secretariat of Health and considered one of the major scientific centers in the world. Butantan is the largest immunobiologicals and biopharmaceuticals producer in Latin America (and one of the largest in the world). It is world-renowned for its collection of venomous snakes, as well as those of venomous lizards, spiders, insects and scorpions. By extracting the reptiles' and insects' venoms, the Institute develops antivenoms and medicines against many diseases, which include tuberculosis, rabies, tetanus and diphtheria.

History

The Institute was founded by the Brazilian physician and biomedical scientist

Vital Brazil Vital Brazil Mineiro da Campanha, known as Vital Brazil (; April 28, 1865 – May 8, 1950), was a Brazilian physician, biomedical scientist and immunologist, known for the discovery of the polyvalent anti-ophidic serum used to treat bites of v ...

in 1901, according to Pasteur Institute paradigm, i.e., by combining in the same institution

medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...

, the transfer of the results to society as health products, and self-financing through this later activity. Its foundation was a reaction to the outbreak of

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium (''Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well a ...

in the city of Santos. It is internationally renowned for its research on venomous animals; it was visited by Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. It is also a state-supported producer of vaccines against many

infectious diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

, such as rabies, hepatitis, botulism, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis and tuberculosis, as well as polyvalent and monovalent antivenoms against the bites of

snakes Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joi ...

lizards Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia althou ...

bees Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

, scorpions and spiders (which, historically were first developed in the beginning of the 20th century by Dr. Vital Brazil and his coworkers). Among the distinguished scientists at the institute were biochemists Karl Slotta and Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat, pioneers in the study of progesterone, estriol, and medical use of venom, from 1935 to 1948. A fire in 2010 destroyed the collection facility, which maintained one of the largest collections of venomous animals in the world, comprising around 80,000 snake specimens, and an estimated 450,000 spiders and scorpions. The name of the institute comes from "''Butantã''", a district in the west zone of São Paulo. "''Butantã''" itself is a

Tupi Tupi may refer to: * Tupi people of Brazil * Tupi or Tupian languages, spoken in South America ** Tupi language, an extinct Tupian language spoken by the Tupi people * Tupi oil field off the coast of Brazil * Tupi Paulista, a Brazilian municipalit ...

word meaning "''crushed soil''".

Education and research

The Institute develops basic and applied biomedical research in many areas, including molecular biology, immunology and epidemiology and has a graduate research training program in collaboration with other institutions, in the areas of biotechnology and

infectology Infectious diseases or ID, also known as infectiology, is a Specialty (medicine), medical specialty dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of infections. An infectious diseases specialist's practice consists of managing nosocomial (hospital-acqu ...

. Besides its research laboratories, production units and specialized library, it operates an animal breeding center for providing subjects for research and production of sera. The Instituto Butantan also operate the "Hospital Vital Brazil", a specialist hospital that offers free treatment for poisonous animal stings and bites. The institute also accepts donations of serpents, arthropods and other animals captured by the public and by a network of collaborating centers and individuals. The following research laboratories are part of the Butantan Institute: * Arthropods *

Herpetology Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

* Cellular biology *

Immunogenetics Immunogenetics or immungenetics is the branch of Medical Immunology and Medical Genetics that explores the relationship between the immune system and genetics. Autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, are complex genetic traits which res ...

* Immunopathology *

Viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...

Immunology * Immunochemistry * Genetics * Dermatology *

Pathophysiology Pathophysiology ( physiopathology) – a convergence of pathology with physiology – is the study of the disordered physiological processes that cause, result from, or are otherwise associated with a disease or injury. Pathology is the ...

* Biochemistry and Biophysics *

Pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...

Microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

Parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it fo ...

* Biopharmaceuticals * Applied Toxinology * Biotechnology Center Important Brazilian scientists who have worked in the Butantan Institute are:

, Afrânio Pompílio Gastos do Amaral, Isaias Raw,

Samuel Pessoa Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transit ...

Willy Beçak Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William (given name), William or Wilhelm (name), Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American ...

. The Institute has strong collaborative ties with the Pasteur Institute, Paris, France, and with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro.

Production

The Butantan Institute is the largest producer in Latin America (and one of the largest in the world) of immunobiologicals and biopharmaceuticals. In 2001 it produced ca. doses of vaccines and vials of hyperimmune sera. The institute is responsible for the production of 90% of the vaccines used in Brazil. The institute contains a venom farm where researchers milk around a thousand snakes for their venom which is used to make antivenoms and for medical research.. The production units manufacture the following bioproducts:

Hyperimmune sera and antivenoms

* Anti- Bothropic * Anti- Crotalic * Anti-Bothropic-Crotalic * Anti- Elapidic * Anti-Bothropic- Lachetic * Anti- Escorpionic * Anti- Arachnidic * Anti- Lonomia * Anti-Africanized

Bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

* Anti- Diphtheric * Anti- Tetanic * Anti- Botulinic A, B, E * Anti- Rabies * Anti-Human Thymocytes

Vaccines

* Tetanus Toxoid * Diphtheria-tetanus vaccine (Pediatric and adult) * Triple vaccine: Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis * Recombinant Hepatitis B * BCG (intradermic) * Rabies (

Vero Cell culture Vero cells are a lineage of cells used in cell cultures. The 'Vero' lineage was isolated from kidney epithelial cells extracted from an African green monkey (''Chlorocebus'' sp.; formerly called ''Cercopithecus aethiops'', this group of monkeys h ...

) * CoronaVac ( COVID-19)

Biopharmaceuticals

* Botulin toxin * BCG (intravesical) * Monoclonal antibody: Anti-CD3 *

Erythropoietin Erythropoietin (; EPO), also known as erythropoetin, haematopoietin, or haemopoietin, is a glycoprotein cytokine secreted mainly by the kidneys in response to cellular hypoxia; it stimulates red blood cell production (erythropoiesis) in the bo ...

* Pulmonary surfactant

Public activities

The Butantan Institute is one of the major touristic and educational attractions in a vast park area in the city section of Butantã in São Paulo. It has a

serpentarium A herpetarium is a zoological exhibition space for reptiles and amphibians, most commonly a dedicated area of a larger zoo. A herpetarium which specializes in snakes is an ophidiarium or serpentarium, which are more common as stand-alone entiti ...

, a historical museum, a biological museum, and a museum of microbiology. The venom farm is a major attraction and visitors can see the snakes housed in representations of their natural environments. The park also contains rare tree types.

Butantan Foundation

The Fundação Butantan is a non-profit corporation established in 1984 by Prof. Willy Beçak to use more efficiently public funds and capital investments made by the Ministry of Health for the production of immunobiologicals. The Foundation reinvests part of the proceeds to build new facilities for new products. Part of the funds are used in the Institute for research and cultural activities, as well as to provide its workers with meals and basic food supplies.

2010 fire

On May 15, 2010, a fire almost burned down the laboratory and destroyed the Institute's entire collection of snake specimens (approximately 85,000 specimens preserved with formaldehyde and stored in 70% ethanol) and ca. 450,000–500,000 specimens of scorpions and spiders (also stored in ethanol). It was one of the largest collections of snakes in the world. Over 90 years of research were lost. The fire started at and was brought under control by a crew of 50 firemen an hour and a half later. News reports have claimed that the facility was not prepared for a fire, not having a fire alarm or sprinkler system. Police are investigating the fire which has been described by curator Francisco Luís Franco as "a loss for humanity". None of the live animals or people at the institute was harmed by the fire.

Notes

References

;Bibliography * * * ;News articles * * * * ;Wire reports * ;Online resources *

External links

Butantan Institute Home Page
(in Portuguese and English)

(in English) {{authority control Research institutes in Brazil Medical museums in Brazil Museums in São Paulo Biological research institutes Tourist attractions in São Paulo Natural history museums in Brazil Nature centers Research institutes established in 1901 1901 establishments in Brazil