Because Taiwan is located in the subtropics, and snakes can be found all over, several hundred people were dying each year from snakebites. Developing antidotes for snakebites was an urgent public health objective.
由於台灣地處亞熱帶，山林鄉野到處可見毒蛇出沒，每年因此死傷的民眾高達數百名，蛇毒的解毒與治療是一項緊急的公共衛生問題。