Chinese Survey Ship Visit to Maldives Raises Indian Ocean Security Concerns | - Times of India
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NEW DELHI: Scientists have developed a synthetic human antibody that can neutralise a deadly toxin produced by a variety of snakes. The study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, adapted an approach used earlier to screen for antibodies against HIV and COVID-19 in order to synthesise the new venom-neutralising antibody. "This is the first time that this particular strategy is being applied to develop antibodies for snakebite treatment," said Senji Laxme, a PhD student at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. The team, including researchers from US-based Scripps Research Institute, noted that the study is a step towards a universal antibody solution that can offer broad protection against venom of a variety of snakes, which includes the cobra, king cobra, krait and black mamba. Snakebites cause thousands of deaths every year, especially in India and sub-Saharan Africa, they said. The current strategy for developing antivenoms invo