ProgramChair: Dr. Manjunatha Kini, NUS, Singapore
A documentary “Minutes to Die” that highlights the impact of snakebites will be screened at the NGBT 2018.
India is home to over 270 species of snake and 60 of these are venomous. Snake as a species is about 150 million old and have roamed the planet since the Jurassic period. They have evolved and optimized their venom to hunt their prey effectively. Modern human a recent product of evolution have been around for 200,000 years and are not a natural prey for snakes. However, snakebites can be lethal. It is no more true than in India where over a million snakebites occur annually and over 50,000 people die of snake bites.
Since 1896, snake anti-venom has been developed using horses. While the horse-derived anti-sera are effective, given the numerous snake species and the geographical variation even with the same species, the antivenoms often do not work effectively. Also, timely access to anti-venom and cost remain unsolved. With the rapid changes in genomics technologies it is possible to rapidly understand the snakes and also develop anti-venom using recombinant technologies. In parallel several effort are underway to create awareness about snakebites and how to seek proper help.
This "Live and Let Live: Snakebite Cure Symposia" is organized by SciGenom Research Foundation (SGRF), a not-for-profit organization, at the 2018 NextGen Genomics, Biology, Bioinformatics and Technologies (NGBT) conference. It will feature world leaders trying to tackle the issues associated with Snakebites from both a Scientific and Social perspective.
ProgramChair: Dr. Manjunatha Kini, NUS, Singapore
A documentary “Minutes to Die” that highlights the impact of snakebites will be screened at the NGBT 2018.
Ms. Lakshmi V
M: +91- 9591 506 568
Mr. Srijith V.M
M: +91- 9497 118 365
E: ngbt2018@sgrf.org
