Bitten by a Cobra? Soon They Will Rescue You With Anti-Venom Made From Genetic Engineering

Modern genetics is paving the way to more efficient, animal-friendly snakebite antivenom. Researchers have been using the genome of the India cobra – one of the most dangerous snakes on earth – to start producing the perfect antidote against their lethal bites.

For more than a century, researchers have relied on an expensive, laborious and error-prone method of producing antivenoms – extracting them from the Animals. The new findings, published in Nature Genetics, show that the cobra venom’s toxic effects are caused by around 19 genes. Researchers can use this information to synthesize a new generation of antivenoms that act as quick and efficient agents to render these genes ineffective.

“The value of genomics is that it will allow us to produce medicines that are more concretely defined,” says study author Somasekar Seshagiri, a geneticist and president of the SciGenom Research Foundation in Bangalore. “Antivenoms will no longer just be like some magic potion we pull out of a horse.”

With the growing database of snake genomes, researchers may be able to create broad-spectrum antivenoms against bites from all kinds of creatures – without ever having to risk an innocent animal’s life again.