Each year, poisonous snakes kill more than 100,000 people and leave 300,000 others with devastating injuries – amputations, paralysis and permanent handicaps. Victims are often farmers, breeders and children in rural communities in sub -Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America. For them, a snake bite is not only a medical crisis – it is an economic disaster.
Treatment has not changed for over a century. Anti -noms – derivatives of the blood of immune animals – are expensive, difficult to make and often ineffective against the deadliest toxins. Worse, they need refrigeration and trained medical staff, which makes them inaccessible for many who need it most.
Now, a team led by Susana Vázquez Torres, a computer biologist working in The Nobel Prize winner David Baker The renowned protein design laboratory of Washington University has used AI to create completely new proteins that neutralize deadly snake venom in laboratory tests – faster, cheaper and more efficiently than traditional anti -names. Their research, published in NatureIntroduces a new class of synthetic proteins that successfully protect animals from otherwise deadly doses of snake venom toxins.
How did I cracked the code on venom
For more than a century, the production of antivenons has been based on animal immunization, requiring thousands of snake -drafts and plasma extractions. Torres and his team hope to replace this with a protein design led by AI, compressing years of work in weeks.
Using the Nvidia Ampère architecture and GPUS L40The Baker Lab used its in -depth learning models, including rfdiffusion and proteinmpnn, to generate millions of potential antitoxin structures “in silico” or in computer simulations. Instead of detecting a large number of these proteins in a laboratory, they used AI tools to predict how the proteins of designers would interact with snake venom toxins, quickly repercussions on the most promising conceptions.
The results were remarkable:
- The newly designed proteins closely linked to three fingers toxins (3ftx), the deadliest components of Elapid venom, effectively neutralizing their toxic effects.
- Laboratory tests have confirmed their capacity for stability and high neutralization.
- Mouse studies have shown a survival rate of 80 to 100% after exposure to fatal neurotoxins.
- The proteins designed by AI were small, heat resistant and easy to make – no cold storage required.
A life buoy for the most neglected victims
Unlike traditional anti -natives, which cost hundreds of dollars per dose, it may be possible to mass produce these proteins designed by low -cost AI, which makes the vital treatment available where it is most necessary.
Numerous victims of snake bites cannot afford to be antivenu or delay the search for care due to the barriers at a cost and accessibility. In some cases, the financial burden of treatment can push whole families more deeply in poverty. With an accessible, affordable and stable antidote, millions of lives – and livelihoods – could be saved.
Beyond snake bites: the future of medicine designed by AI
This research is not only snake bites. According to the researchers, the same AI-led approach could be used to design precision treatments for viral infections, autoimmune diseases and other conditions that are difficult to deal with.
By replacing the development of drugs in testing and error with algorithmic precision, researchers using AI to design proteins strive to make vital drugs more affordable and accessible worldwide.
Torres and his collaborators – including researchers from the Technical University of Denmark, the University of North Colorado and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine – are now focusing on the preparation of these venom neutralization proteins for tests clinics and large -scale production.
In case of success, this AI increased progression could save lives and raise families and communities around the world.