A landmark study conducted by researchers in Dubai suggests that camel tears may offer groundbreaking potential in neutralizing snake venom.

The research, led by the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) in Dubai, tested camelid antibodies derived from both tears and blood plasma.

When camels were immunized with venom from snakes such as the saw-scaled viper, the extracted antibodies demonstrated the ability to counteract venom-induced hemorrhage and coagulation disorders in preclinical trials.

These camelid antibodies are also reportedly smaller, more heat-stable, and less likely to trigger allergic reactions than traditional horse-based antivenoms.

Snakebite envenomation remains a critical global health issue. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 5.4 million people are bitten annually, causing up to 138,000 deaths and countless long-term disabilities.

India bears the heaviest burden, with an estimated 58,000 deaths per year.

While the findings are compelling, researchers emphasize the need for peer-reviewed validation and progression to human clinical trials.

Further development is required to confirm efficacy, optimal dosing, and safety in real-world applications.

Camel tears may not literally neutralize snake venom, but the study does highlight the remarkable potential of camelid antibodies in the fight against a global health crisis.

Pakistan’s central bank is preparing to launch a pilot for a digital currency and is finalising legislation to regulate virtual assets, Governor Jameel Ahmad said on Wednesday, as the country ramped up efforts to modernise its financial system, Reuters reported.

Central banks globally are exploring the use of digital currencies as interest in blockchain-based payments grows. Pakistan’s move follows similar steps by regulators in China, India, Nigeria and several Gulf states to test or issue digital currencies through controlled pilot programmes.

At the Reuters NEXT Asia summit in Singapore, Ahmad said Pakistan was “building up our capacity on the central bank digital currency” and hoped to roll out a pilot soon.

He was speaking on a panel alongside Sri Lanka’s central bank governor, P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, with both discussing monetary policy challenges in South Asia.

Ahmad said a new law would “lay down the foundations for the licensing and regulation” of the virtual assets sector and that the central bank was in touch with some tech partners.

The move builds on efforts by the government-backed Pakistan Crypto Council, set up in March to drive virtual asset adoption. The PCC is exploring bitcoin mining using surplus energy, has appointed Binance founder Changpeng Zhao as a strategic adviser and plans to establish a state-run bitcoin reserve, read the report.

It has also held talks with U.S.-based crypto firms, including the Trump-linked World Liberty Financial.

In May, the State Bank of Pakistan clarified that virtual assets were not illegal. However, it advised financial institutions not to engage with them until a formal licensing framework was in place.

“There are risks associated, and at the same time, there are opportunities in this new emerging field. So we have to evaluate and manage the risk very carefully, and at the same time not allow to let go the opportunity,” he said on the panel.

On Wednesday, Pakistan’s state minister on blockchain and crypto, Bilal bin Saqib, said in a statement that Pakistan’s government had approved the “Virtual Assets Act, 2025” creating an independent regulator to license and oversee the crypto sector.

Ahmad said the central bank would continue to maintain a tight policy stance to stabilise inflation within its 5–7% medium-term target.

Pakistan has cut its benchmark rate from a peak of 22% to 11% over the past year, as inflation slumped from 38% in May 2023 to 3.2% in June, averaging 4.5% in the 2025 fiscal year just ended, a nine-year low.

“We are now seeing the results of this tight monetary policy transfer, both on our inflation as well as on the external account,” he said.

Ahmad said Pakistan was not overly exposed to dollar weakness, noting its foreign debt was mostly dollar-denominated and only 13% comprised Eurobonds or commercial loans.

“We don’t see any major impact,” he said, adding that reserves had risen to $14.5 billion from under $3 billion two years ago.

Ahmad said Pakistan’s three-year $7 billion IMF programme, which runs through September 2027, was on track and had resulted in reforms in fiscal policy, energy pricing and the foreign exchange market, Reuters reported.

“We are confident that after that (IMF programme), maybe we will not require an immediate (follow-up).”

Asked whether Pakistan had financing plans lined up for upcoming military equipment purchases, particularly imports from China, Pakistan’s central bank governor said he was not aware of such plans.

The first astronauts in more than 40 years from India, Poland and Hungary arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday, ferried there by SpaceX on a private flight.

The crew of four will spend two weeks at the orbiting lab, performing dozens of experiments. They launched Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, AP reported.

America’s most experienced astronaut, Peggy Whitson, is the commander of the visiting crew. She works for Axiom Space, the Houston company that arranged the chartered flight.

Besides Whitson, the crew includes India’s Shubhanshu Shukla, a pilot in the Indian Air Force; Hungary’s Tibor Kapu, a mechanical engineer; and Poland’s Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, a radiation expert and one of the European Space Agency’s project astronauts on temporary flight duty.

No one has ever visited the International Space Station from those countries before. The time anyone rocketed into orbit from those countries was in the late 1970s and 1980s, traveling with the Soviets.

Speaking in both English and their native languages, the new arrivals shared hugs and handshakes with the space station’s seven full-time residents, celebrating with drink pouches sipped through straws. Six nations were represented: four from the U.S., three from Russia and one each from Japan, India, Poland and Hungary.

“We have so many countries at the same time on the space station,” Kapu said, adding that seven of the 11 astronauts are first-time space fliers “which also tells me how much space is expanding.”

Added Uznanski-Wisniewski: “We will all try to do the best representing our countries.” Shukla rated the experience so far as “fantastic … wonderful.”

The space station’s commander, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, said he was happy to finally see their smiling faces after “waiting for you guys so long.” Whitson also made note of the lengthy delay and preflight quarantine.

To stay healthy, the four newcomers went into quarantine on May 25, stuck in it as their launch kept getting delayed. The latest postponement was for space station leak monitoring, NASA wanted to make sure everything was safe following repairs to a longtime leak on the Russian side of the outpost.

It’s the fourth Axiom-sponsored flight to the space station since 2022. The company is one of several that are developing their own space stations due to launch in the coming years. NASA plans to abandon the International Space Station in 2030 after more than three decades of operation, and is encouraging private ventures to replace it.