AI-designed antivenom could offer new hope for snakebite victims

Scientists in Denmark are using artificial intelligence to design antivenoms to help snakebite victims.

The researchers hope the antitoxins will one day be cheaper and easier to produce than traditional products—and may work faster.

Timothy Patrick Jenkins from the Technical University of Denmark leads the AI antivenom research team alongside Nobel laureate David Baker from the University of Washington.

They’ve been using AI to design proteins that can effectively neutralize snake venom toxins that can kill and maim.

“Snake venoms are these incredibly complex cocktails of different molecules, so-called proteins. And we need to know what the most medically relevant toxins are. So, we use different techniques to identify these,'' Jenkins said.

''We then have a very close look at the structure of them, throw them into advanced AI models, and then actually use these to custom make basically glue to these toxins. So, we stick a protein to a toxin that might be attacking our nervous system, destroying our cells, and causing our blood to clot. And what we do is bind something to it, stick something to it, so it can't do this anymore.”

The proteins they are designing target so-called "three-finger toxins"—potent neurotoxins that disrupt nerve signals, causing paralysis or death if untreated.

Early tests of the proteins in mice have led to an 80-100% survival rate.

The World Health Organization estimates there are around 5 million snakebites annually, causing between 81,000 and 138,000 deaths.

Most of these occur in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where agricultural workers and children are the most affected.

Jenkins says there is a scarcity of antivenoms and poor management of snake bites in large parts of the world.

And while not yet a complete replacement for current antivenoms, the researchers hope their work could one day supplement existing remedies and lead to more accessible, effective, and affordable snakebite therapies.

“My personal hope is that within five years, we've completed our first clinical trials where we can actually say that there is a product ready to be delivered to patients,'' Jenkins said. — Reuters