Claude designs protein binders against scorpion toxins, a first step toward new antivenoms
Scorpion stings hit more than a million people a year, and new treatments get little investment. Anthropic, working with Citrini Research, asked an internal Claude research model to design minibinders, small proteins that latch onto a target, against scorpion neurotoxins. Over 64 hours, mostly on its own, Claude generated over 318,000 candidate designs. Lab partners Adaptyv Bio and Twist Bioscience tested 211, and 17 bound to one of four toxins known to be dangerous to humans. Anthropic is clear that this is not yet an antivenom, since neutralization is untested, but outside experts called it a promising first step. All 211 designs and their data are being released for other researchers.