I almost forgot there were ML models besides LLMs! [RFdiffusion](https://www.bakerlab.org/2023/07/11/diffusion-model-for-prot...), used for the protein discovery, is a model somewhat related to diffusion-based image generation. So much of the attention right now is about what LLMs can do with their coding, agentic, and research capabilities as they get more and more powerful and self-improving. It's fun to be reminded that ground-breaking things still can come from "your dad's neural networks."
Also... just because I was checking through the results of the paper to see if it was actually an interesting result: "The SHRT binder provided complete protection (100%) to mice . . . . The LNG binder exhibited comparable efficacy, completely neutralizing α‐cobratoxin but not the non-target ScNtx"
Yeah David Baker and co. are using a lot of diffusion models for their research! And yeah some of these mice results are very good, and hopefully they translate to a good degree to humans
The "over 100,000 deaths" seems like a slight exaggeration, this paper bounds the estimate at 40,000-80,000: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-33627-9 Wikipedia's "Epidemiology of snakebites" had similar estimates.
That's still a lot of people! But I was skeptical of 100,000, especially without a source.
Yes you're right! It's very hard to estimate how many people die from snake bite, for a thousand reasons (under reporting, incomplete snake databases, etc). This meta analysis indeed puts the numbers above 100.000 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11020954/ but I get where you're coming from! The uncertainty in these data is huge.
This means they also are amazing at designing venoms. Biological and chemical warfare in the ai age have the potential to be really fun and amusing
As opposed to before the AI age when biological and chemical warfare were a friendly affair?
Now do spiders.
Spider bites are far less deadly. Worldwide, yearly deaths from spider bites number in the dozens, not tens of thousands.
Spiders target small prey and it's hard for their venom to kill something as big as a person. It's certainly unpleasant and can cause significant damage even when it doesn't kill, but snakes are responsible for far more deaths.
And ticks.
That's not quite the same. Ticks can spread bacteria, viruses and pathogens. Venom consists of proteins. I assume this impacts development.
Tick vaccines for different diseases such as lyme disease are in development though. For TBE they already exist.
Anything that effectively deters or kills them without being dangerous to humans would work for me (and is convenient enough).
> So, I love snakes: I think they are the coolest animals out there
No they are not. Said almost no-one.
These creatures contribute almost nothing to society and even if they're used to get rid of pests, there are other animals that do it better without being an extreme danger to humans or they can be safely caught and released.
But instead, these creatures just want to bite, spit or strangle you if they feel like it and in some cases really just want to kill you (because they think you will kill them first).
You cannot reason with these creatures with full of venom in their fangs even if the situation was an accident.