Claude-designed proteins bind scorpion toxins in lab tests

Anthropic said on Oct. 20 that an internal Claude research model designed small proteins that bind scorpion neurotoxins in laboratory tests. Of 211 designs tested by the contract research organizations Adaptyv Bio and Twist Bioscience, 17 met the company's criteria for a binder. Anthropic is releasing all 211 designs and their data for other researchers.

The model worked for 64 hours inside Claude Science from one initial prompt and four follow-ups, developed with the investment research firm Citrini Research. Anthropic says Claude used 12 design tools to generate 318,484 candidates and chose 180 for testing; the team added 31 more with its help. The run used on the order of 10,000 GPU hours.

The targets were five toxins from scorpions in Mexico, Brazil, North Africa and the Middle East. Each of the 17 binders attaches to one toxin: seven to Cn2, four each to AaH I and AaH II, and two to LqhIII. No multitoxin design qualified for more than one target. The two strongest, both against Cn2, bound with single-digit nanomolar affinity at both labs and appear to attach near the same site as an antibody reported to neutralize Cn2 in mice.

Anthropic states the limits directly. Binding was measured only against lab-made toxins, not venom from scorpions, and no design was tested for neutralization in cells or protection in animals, so the company does not claim an antivenom. Interesting Engineering noted that the results appeared in a technical report rather than a peer-reviewed journal.

Anthropic cites at least 1.2 million scorpion stings and more than 3,250 deaths a year, mostly among children with little access to care. Two outside researchers, Susana Vázquez Torres of Spain's CNIO and Timothy P. Jenkins of the Technical University of Denmark, called the work a promising first step. Tests with toxin purified from venom, sodium channel recordings and mouse studies would come next.