Since 2011, Founding Trustee Gerard Martin has been spearheading research on snake venom in India. In this time, Gerry and his collaborators have legally collected venom from 24 species of snakes across 11 states and one Union Territory in India. The Liana Trust collaborates with the Evolutionary Venomics Lab at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru on this project. Scientists at the lab characterize the collected venom and assess their potency and response to available antivenom serums. 

Thus far, our collaborative research has revealed that available antivenom serum has varying levels of efficacy around the country, there are geographic variations in venom composition within species, and that more species than the ‘big four’ are medically significant. 

The big four species are the common krait, the spectacled cobra, the Russell’s viper, and the saw-scaled viper. Currently, antivenom serums are only produced for these four species, and the venom to make these come from a single production unit in Tamil Nadu. Our research suggests the need for regional venom production units for antivenom and updated venom collection protocols.