Claude designed protein binders against scorpion neurotoxins

The five toxins came from four regions: Cn2 from Mexico, Ts1 from Brazil, AaH I and AaH II from North Africa, and LqhIII from the Middle East. The initial run produced 180 shortlisted designs, and researchers added 31 more before lab testing. Seven of the 17 binders that met the threshold targeted Cn2, and the strongest hits, Cn2-B1 and Cn2-B2, bind the Mexican toxin at single-digit nanomolar affinity. Scorpion stings affect about 1.2m people every year, and antivenoms are often costly or in short supply. The work follows a 2024 study in which designed proteins neutralized snake neurotoxins and protected mice. The campaign was run with Citrini Research, an investment research firm with no lab of its own. For a founder, the useful signal is the workflow. Claude worked from one initial prompt and four follow-up prompts over 64 hours, operating mainly autonomously, while the company's life science team supervised the campaign. The bottleneck stayed in the wet lab, where roughly 8% of tested designs passed. Testing used lab-made toxins, and Anthropic did not test neutralization in cells or effectiveness in animals. Anthropic has released all 211 designs and their data.