In a recent breakthrough, scientists from IISc Bengaluru’s Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES) and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have created an antivenom that could potentially be used to treat snakebites from the diverse cobra species of India. The scientists published their discoveries in the journal Science Translational Medicine , in a research paper titled “Oligoclonal nanobody-based recombinant antivenom protects mice challenged with venom from cobras and king cobras from India”, last month.

We explain how different cobra venoms affect humans, the challenges in treating snakebites, and how the CES-DTU collaboration developed the new antivenom.

While there are many species of cobra in India, they generally kill their prey using “neurotoxins” in their venom that paralyse their prey and stop them from breathing.…