Blood serum containing antibodies that can neutralize specific toxins or antigens, used medically to treat or prevent certain diseases.
From anti- (against) + serum (Latin, whey or thin liquid). The term emerged in late 19th-century immunology when scientists discovered that animal blood serum contained protective factors against disease.
Antiserum therapy was literally life-saving before antibiotics existed—if you were bitten by a venomous snake or infected with diphtheria, antiserum from an immunized animal was often your only chance of survival, making it one of medicine's first true miracles.
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