Scientists' research proves that proteins designed using artificial intelligence (AI) can counteract deadly toxins from the venom of cobras, vipers and other deadly snakes. What results did scientists achieve?
Scientists' research proves that proteins designed using artificial intelligence (AI) can counteract deadly toxins from the venom of cobras, vipers and other deadly snakes. What results did scientists achieve?
«We went from ‘we couldn’t even do that’ to proof-of-concept solutions to real-world problems,» says Joseph Jardine, an immunologist at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California, according to a Nature article.
For more than a century, the methods of treating venomous snakebites have changed little. Most antivenoms are based on antibodies in the serum of horses and sheep immunized with snake venom. These antivenoms have proven safe and effective. However, as José María Gutiérrez, a toxinologist at the Instituto Clodomiro Picado at the University of Costa Rica in San José, points out, they have the disadvantage of having to be administered in medical clinics by trained personnel, which limits their usefulness.
When they unveiled their revolutionary protein design program RFdiffusion in late 2022, Nobel Prize-winning computational biophysicist David Baker of the University of Washington in Seattle, along with colleagues from the University of Washington, did not set out to develop treatments for snakebites.
His program, inspired by AI tools DALL-E and Midjourney, has shown significant results in creating small proteins that bind tightly to target proteins, including those linked to cancer and autoimmune diseases. Baker says the proteins' small size makes them easier and cheaper to produce than conventional antibodies, and could confer other advantages, including the ability to move more easily through tissues to get where they’re needed.
The article about proteins created by radiofrequency diffusion caught the attention of Timothy Jenkins, a medical biotechnologist at the Technical University of Denmark who is researching snakebite treatments. He was initially skeptical about the protein binding data, but emailed Baker to ask if his team would be interested.
Meanwhile, Susana Vázquez Torres, a biochemist in Baker’s lab, became interested in Baker’s work and suggested that radiofrequency diffusion could help improve the treatment of snakebites. Snake venom is made up of various protein toxins that cause paralysis and tissue damage. Susana asked Baker about the use of binding agents to counteract snake venom toxins, but the RFdiffusion developer told her it was «too difficult.» However, he later changed his mind.
Vázquez Torres first tested the astringents to neutralize so-called three-fingered toxins, one of the most deadly families of venomous toxins possessed by cobras and many other deadly snakes, and «everything worked right away.»
However, when testing the binder with whole cobra venom, the cell survival rate dropped from 100% to 70%–90%. This is primarily because neutralizing a single venom component is likely not enough to prevent disabling injuries or save lives.
The drug also failed to reduce the size of lesions in mice injected with venom from the black-necked spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis), a snake known for causing debilitating tissue damage. Vázquez Torres and Jenkins are already thinking about what other families of toxins to look for to create astringent cocktails to deter the most dangerous snakes.
In addition, Sunagar emphasized that we need to wait for the results of clinical trials and see how they behave in humans.
Irene Halek, a researcher at Scripps Research who is also working on new treatments for snakebites, suggested that the astringents would likely not require refrigeration or freezing, and could even be stored in an EpiPen-like injector, allowing for much faster treatment and saving lives and limbs. This is especially important in regions with high snakebite risk and hot climates, where it is often difficult to quickly access a refrigerator.
Currently, the cost of antivenom needed to treat a single bite can reach tens of thousands of dollars and takes months to produce. The complexity is primarily due to the need to «milk the snakes» three times and collect the animals’ blood. According to Jenkins, the production of substances created using AI takes several weeks.
«And because they can be mass-produced by bacteria or yeast, the price of the final product can be very low,» he says.
