🇮🇳 Professor @iiscbangalore & @LabVenomics | 🐍 Founder @Venomicsai | 🧬 Venom, antibody research | 💊 Decoding venoms for medicines | 📸 Wildlife photography
Bangalore
Joined April 2011
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This is a dream come true! Ecstatic to announce that @LabVenomics at @CES_IISc, @iiscbangalore, in association with @official_ibab, and with funding from @ITBTGoK, the Government of Karnataka, will establish an ‘Antivenom Research and Development Centre’ in Bangalore.
1/4 🐍 Toxin Tuesday is BACK! (After a rather long break!)
And we’re restarting with a fascinating question: Can FIVE tiny antibodies take on the venoms of some of the world’s most dangerous cobras?
Let’s find out! 🧵👇
🤖 Made with AI
4/4 🐍 Five tiny antibodies. Multiple cobra species. And some unexpected findings!
For this week’s #ToxinTuesday, I’ve written about our recent research in Science Translational Medicine and what it might mean for the future of snakebite treatment.
Following Anthropic and Google Gemini for Science programs, we’re keen to explore how OpenAI’s frontier models could advance our research in venomics & snakebite therapeutics.
Would love to connect with someone at @OpenAI to explore opportunities!
@LabVenomics @venomicsai
Thank you, @AnthropicAI and Irina, for supporting our research! 🐍
I hope this partnership continues to grow, helping us accelerate the development of next-gen treatments for snakebite envenoming, one of the world's most neglected tropical diseases.
@LabVenomics @venomicsai
Delighted to share one of the first AI for Science stories from India.
Snakebite kills an estimated 58,000 Indians every year. Commercial antivenom is raised against just four species, from venom collected largely in one district of Tamil Nadu, so it often fails against bites elsewhere in the country.
Dr Kartik Sunagar's Evolutionary Venomics Lab at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru has spent years mapping how venom varies across India's cobras, kraits and vipers. With support from Anthropic's AI for Science program, his team is now using Claude to curate and annotate that data, hunting targets for a next-generation antivenom that works pan-India.
Dr. Sunagar's lab was the first in India to receive an AI for Science grant. India now has many more. I'll be sharing their work here over the coming weeks.
If frontier AI could accelerate your research, we'd like to hear from you. AI for Science offers free API credits to researchers on high-impact projects: lnkd.in/eeM_Fcrm. And Claude Science, our new AI workbench for scientists, is at claude.com/science.
Congratulations Dr Kartik Kannan Sunagar and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) team.
#AIforScience #Anthropic #IISc
A rather special paper for me, for more reasons than one 🐍
Our new work is out in Science Translational Medicine, where we show that a recombinant antivenom made from just five nanobodies can protect against geographically diverse cobra and king cobra venoms from across India
IISc researchers and collaborators have developed a recombinant, nanobody-based antivenom that offers broad protection against venom from geographically diverse cobra and king cobra species in India. @LabVenomics
Read: iisc.ac.in/events/engineered…
#IIScresearch
The most interesting message extends beyond these individual species. The fact that molecules developed against African snake toxins can protect against Indian cobra venoms suggests that we may not always need to build antivenoms one snake, or even one region, at a time.
1/6
Toxin <del>Tuesday</del> Thursday!
What connects Russell’s viper venom, traditional Irula knowledge, neem, and an ingredient used in acne creams? 🐍🌿
Our new study uncovered an unexpected lead for limiting snakebite damage.
5/6
An essential caveat: this is early-stage research in laboratory assays and mice.
Neem is not a snakebite treatment. Antivenom remains the only treatment supported by clinical evidence. After a bite, seek emergency medical care immediately.
6/6
The larger lesson? Traditional knowledge can offer valuable scientific leads when investigated carefully, respectfully, and rigorously.
Read the story:
venomdetective.com/posts/lea…
Paper:
sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
@LabVenomics, @venomicsai, @iiscbangalore
