BENGALURU: A serpentarium is to open in Bengaluru soon, to aid venom and anti-venom research. Evolutionary Venomics Lab, funded by the IT/BT department of the Karnataka government, will open the serpentarium, which can house about 500 snakes belonging to 23 species, and also other venomous animals like scorpions and spiders. It will be established at a cost of Rs 7 crore.
As the current anti-venoms are ineffective and require an overhaul, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), of which Evolutionary Venomics Lab is a part, will develop advanced therapeutic strategies to treat snakebite. Venom will be extracted from snakes housed and used for research. The lab, which collaborates with the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, currently works with major anti-venom manufactures to test the effectiveness of anti-venom in India.
“A serpentarium will be invaluable, as we don’t have such a facility in the country. It takes years to collect venom for research, as the process of getting permission from the forest department is long, and not all are capable of collecting venom. Most people purchase venom from the Irula Snake Catchers’ Industrial Cooperative Society in Tamil Nadu, where venom is collected from a couple of districts,” said Dr Kartik Sunagar, professor, Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc.
He said that four major species are responsible for a majority of deaths and disabilities in India, and the current anti-venoms are not effective as they are collected from only a couple of districts. Therefore, the available anti-venoms are not effective on other species’ venoms. The venoms of these four species also differ, based on their geographic location, and the anti-venoms are unable to neutralise the venom in this case.
The serpentarium will also house startups to promote research in the neglected area of biodiscovery aspects in India. The startups will work towards identifying compounds that have a therapeutic potential.
As per the state’s order, the government’s aim is to reduce deaths and impairment caused by snakebite to 50%, by 2030. The government aims to make next-generation anti-venom easily available and affordable.
“The centre will enable the characterisation of venom variation and formulation of India’s next-generation anti-venom. It will also play a major role in quality assessment of venom for the manufacture of life-saving anti-venoms, efficacy testing of commercial Indian anti-venoms, resource development for anti-venom strategies, wildlife forensics analysis of venom, biodiversity, biotechnological innovations and outreach about the importance of the species in the ecosystem,” read the government order signed by Shalini K Hegde, undersecretary to government, IT-BT department.
“To shape the future of biotechnology in areas having wide societal impact and increased bioeconomy, we are establishing an Anti-Venom R&D Centre at Bengaluru Helix Biotech Park,” said Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, Minister for Electronics, IT-BT and Science & Technology.