
Every year, venomous snakes kill over 100,000 people and leave 300,000 more with devastating injuries - amputations, paralysis and permanent disabilities. The victims are often farmers, herders and children in rural communities across sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America. For them, a snakebite isn't just a medical crisis - it's an economic catastrophe.
Treatment hasn't changed in over a century. Antivenoms - derived from the blood of immunized animals - are expensive, difficult to manufacture and often ineffective against the deadliest toxins. Worse, they require refrigeration and trained medical staff, making them unreachable for many who need them most.
Now, a team led by Susana V zquez Torres, a computational biologist working in Nobel Prize winner David Baker's renowned protein design lab at the University of Washington, has used AI to create entirely new proteins that neutralize lethal snake venom in laboratory tests - faster, cheaper and more effectively than traditional antivenoms. Their research, published in Nature, introduces a new class of synthetic proteins that successfully protect animals from otherwise lethal doses of snake venom toxins.
Susana Vazquez Torres conducts drug-development research. Credit: Ian C. Haydon, UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design How AI Cracked the Code on Venom For over a century, antivenom production has relied on animal immunization, requiring thousands of snake milkings and plasma extractions. Torres and her team hope to replace this with AI-driven protein design, compressing years of work into weeks.
Using NVIDIA Ampere architecture and L40 GPUs, the Baker Lab used its deep learning models, including RFdiffusion and ProteinMPNN, to generate millions of potential antitoxin structures in silico,' or in computer simulations. Instead of screening a vast number of these proteins in a lab, they used AI tools to predict how the designer proteins would interact with snake venom toxins, rapidly homing in on the most promising designs.
The results were remarkable:
Newly designed proteins bound tightly to three-finger toxins (3FTx), the deadliest components of elapid venom, effectively neutralizing their toxic effects.
Lab tests confirmed their high stability and neutralization capability.
Mouse studies showed an 80-100% survival rate following exposure to lethal neurotoxins.
The AI-designed proteins were small, heat-resistant and easy to manufacture - no cold storage required.
A Lifeline for the Most Neglected Victims Unlike traditional antivenoms, which cost hundreds of dollars per dose, it may be possible to mass-produce these AI-designed proteins at low cost, making life-saving treatment available where it's needed most.
Many snakebite victims can't afford antivenom or delay seeking care due to cost and accessibility barriers. In some cases, the financial burden of treatment can push entire families deeper into poverty. With an accessible, affordable and shelf-stable antidote, millions of lives - and livelihoods - could be saved.
Beyond Snakebites: The Future of AI-Designed Medicine This research isn't just about snakebites. The same AI-driven approach could be used to design precision treatments for viral infections, autoimmune diseases and other hard-to-treat conditions, according to the researchers.
By replacing trial-and-error drug development with algorithmic precision, researchers using AI to design proteins are working to make life-saving medicines more affordable and accessible worldwide.
Torres and her collaborators - including researchers from the Technical University of Denmark, University of Northern Colorado and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine - are now focused on preparing these venom-neutralizing proteins for clinical testing and large-scale production.
If successful, this AI-driven advancement could save lives, and uplift families and communities around the world.
North America Stories
01/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/05/2026
LONDON, APRIL 30, 2026 The Post Republic London's Re-recording Mixer and Dialogue Editor Dan Johnson has built a reputation for clean, emotionally resonan...
01/05/2026
Adobe Unveils Powerful New Innovations in Photoshop & Lightroom
Deepa Subramaniam April 30, 2026
0 Comments
Your most tedious creative tasks just got ea...
01/05/2026
Berklee Partners with Santander US to Establish Global Opportunity Fund The $400,000 grant offers students access to experiential learning opportunities withi...
01/05/2026
Student Spotlight: Keziah Thomas The Indian composer, who was named the 2026 student commencement speaker for Berklee College of Music, talks about how shes p...
30/04/2026
The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) concluded its third regular season on Saturday, reporting growth across attendance, viewership, digital engage...
30/04/2026
NBC Sports will air national MLB coverage on Sundays beginning May 3, with MLB Sunday Leadoff on Peacock and NBCSN at 12:30 p.m. ET, followed by the debut of th...
30/04/2026
Clear-Com has appointed Brian Grahn as Market Outreach Manager of the Americas and Ben Turnwell as Business Development Manager for EMEA live.
Grahn joined Cle...
30/04/2026
ARRI has introduced the cforce MAX, a new lens motor for the Hi-5 lens control system. The cforce MAX is twice as fast as the cforce plus motor it replaces whil...
30/04/2026
Knuerr, Voxtronic, and IHSE will jointly present an integrated control room solu...
30/04/2026
The CW Network and ESPN have announced an agreement to make the ESPN App the exclusive streaming home for all CW Sports live events. CW Sports will continue to ...
30/04/2026
Ed Sheeran's The Loop' tour launched in Auckland in January 2026 before moving on to Australia, with South America and the United States to follow late...
30/04/2026
Audinate has announced Dante Preset Creator, a free online tool for configuring Dante network settings before hardware is available on site. Presets created in ...
30/04/2026
Yahoo Sports has announced the appointment of Jarrod Schwarz as General Manager of Yahoo Sports. Schwarz will oversee product, design, and technology; revenue a...
30/04/2026
Nielsen has released a new report, Get Ready with Media Intelligence: 2026 FIFA World Cup Edition, examining U.S. soccer viewership trends, fan engagement, and ...
30/04/2026
USA Lacrosse and SportsEngine have announced an expanded partnership, naming Spo...
30/04/2026
Telos Alliance will participate in the 2026 Media Production and Technology Show (MPTS), taking place May 13-14 at Olympia London. Rather than exhibiting from a...
30/04/2026
The global streamer buys the U.S. DTC platform solutions provider for a reported...
30/04/2026
Tigo Sports, Paraguay's leading sports broadcaster, has upgraded its video infrastructure with Ateme solutions for live encoding, multiplexing, and signal c...
30/04/2026
World Rugby and IMG have announced a long-term media rights partnership focused on growing rugby in the United States ahead of the Men's and Women's Rug...
30/04/2026
For the second year in a row, Overtime and the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) are teaming up through a renewed content partnership to bring fans even...
30/04/2026
The 22-year ESPN vet's responsibilities will reportedly be taken over by SVP Mike Foss...
30/04/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
30/04/2026
Amazon and Duke University have announced a multiyear agreement for Prime Video to present exclusive coverage of three Duke Blue Devils men's basketball neu...
30/04/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
30/04/2026
MELBOURNE, Fla., April 29, 2026 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) today announ...
30/04/2026
MELBOURNE, Fla., April 30, 2026 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) reports first quarter 2026 results.
Highlights
Orders of $7.8 billion; book-to-bill of 1....
30/04/2026
STA VENERA, MALTA, APRIL 29, 2026 CPI Media, a voluntary organization within the Missionary Society of St Paul (MSSP) and a leading media house dedicated to p...
30/04/2026
New software platform delivers comprehensive timing measurement across production workflows...
30/04/2026
Once again, the UK Pavilion in Hall 5 of BroadcastAsia 2026 will feature the latest and best in technology specifically developed and tailored for modern media ...
30/04/2026
Avid powers faster workflows and next-generation immersive audio with latest Pro...
30/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/04/2026
Scalable broadcast-grade production over public internet, replacing traditional OB workflows...
30/04/2026
Live demonstrations highlight LCEVC ecosystem momentum, AI-powered video pipelines, and expansion across broadcast, streaming, and social media.
DTV (TV 3.0) ...
30/04/2026
Student Spotlight: Matthew Leon The dual major shares his path from community college to Berklee, and how his heritage influences his work.
April 29, 2026
B...
30/04/2026
Berklee Artists to Perform at Major Global Music Festivals As part of the Berklee Popular Music Institute, students will perform at Lollapalooza, Governors Ba...
30/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/04/2026
A flexible monitoring platform designed to simplify ST 2110 operations, consolidate vendor tools, and support modern live production environments. See it at NAB...
30/04/2026
Sundance-premiering Run Amok is an expressive, unconventional take on today's teen experience, replete with musical numbers. When cinematographer Shachar ...
30/04/2026
JACKSONVILLE, AL, APRIL 29, 2026 Jacksonville State University, known as Jax State and a proud NCAA Division I member of Conference USA, has transformed its a...
30/04/2026
Transforming viewer and content data into real-time intelligence to deliver relevant streaming experiences at scale
ThinkAnalytics, the global leader in AI-pow...