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.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
29/05/2026
Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal In a first for the field, all non-human primates given a new series of vaccines generated antibodies capabl...
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.
