Menzies Lab

Modern biotech can deliver safer, scalable & affordable treatments for snakebite - a neglected tropical disease killing 100k+ people annually.
#Biotechnology #Snakebite #Nanobody #Antivenom #GlobalHealth #NTD
@blslancasteruni.bsky.social

We showed that a cocktail of 8 nanobodies protected mice against 17/18 African elapid snake venoms - preventing death and tissue damage.🐍 🧪

Nanobody-based recombinant antivenom for cobra, mamba and rinkhals bites - Nature A recombinant antivenom composed of eight nanobodies provides broad protection against venom-induced lethality and dermonecrosis in mice challenged with venoms from cobras, mambas and rinkha...

Excited to share a new paper led by @andreaslaustsen.bsky.social, Anne Ljungars, @tpjenkins.bsky.social, Shirin Ahmadi and Nick Burlet. It was a privelege to be a part of this amazing team!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Deadline extended to 4th January 2026!

Leanne in lab coat sat at biological safety cabinet, holding a pipette

Delighted to welcome Leanne Antido, who has just started their MSc by Research in the group. Co-supervised by myself and Dr Nick Robinson. Leanne’s project focuses on discovering #antibodies against #Asgard #archaeal proteins and developing them as tools to study protein function

🔗 Info & apply: www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...

Informal enquiries welcome
@BLSLancasterUni #antibody #plant #aquaculture #diagnostics #PhD #bioengineering 🧪

🚨 Funded PhD Studentship 🚨
Antibody Engineering & Plant Molecular Farming for Aquaculture Health
📍 Lancaster & Glasgow | BBSRC NWBio DTP
🗓 Apply by 21 Nov 2025
👉 Engineer antibodies vs Vibrio
👉 Develop rapid diagnostics
👉 Explore plant-based biologics for fish health

Stef Menzies @menzieslab.bsky.social @blslancasteruni.bsky.social is leading a project with Martin Llewellyn (Glasgow) and I looking at antibody engineering and different ways to deliver these in aquaculture settings, including some plant engineering! www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...

Another paper hot off the press! Dual proteomics strategies to characterise and compare the venom composition of nine African #snake #venoms . A wonderful collaboration with Louc Quinton's lab as part of the ADDovenom project. @blslancasteruni.bsky.social 🐍🧪 www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/17...

Snake antivenom serum proves to be three times more effective than the standard one In Brazil, a group of researchers from the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) and the Butantan Institute have developed a new version of the antibothropic serum that is three times more effective than the version currently used to treat envenomation by snakes of the genus Bothrops, the jararaca (B.

A new snake antivenom serum in Brazil is three times more effective than the current standard, with reduced adverse effects, potentially improving treatment for Bothrops envenomation. doi.org/g9fnm9

Thanks to amazing co-authors Rohit Patel and Stuart Ainsworth for all their hard work! @blslancasteruni.bsky.social

Practical progress towards the development of recombinant antivenoms for snakebite envenoming Snakebite envenoming is a neglected tropical disease that affects millions globally each year. In recent years, research into the potential production of recombinant antivenoms, formulated using mi...

Our review article on progress towards #recombinant #antivenoms for #snakebite is now published at www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
We cover snakebite, methods for #mAb discovery, do a deep dive on mAbs for neurotoxins, and discuss what is needed next to get this from concept to clinic.

Last week I had the great pleasure in hosting the launch meeting of our NC3Rs project grant now known as G.E.M (Galleria Envenoming Model). Our work is focused on developing and validating an alternative model to assess venom lethality and therapeutic efficacy testing.

photo of a green mamba

Our department now hosts two labs with interests in #snakebite – Steve Hall Lab and @menzieslab.bsky.social. Snakebite is a global health crisis that affects millions annually. Conventional antivenom, the only currently available treatment, has severe limitations. #WorldNTDDay #BeatNTDs (1/3)

De novo designed proteins neutralize lethal snake venom toxins - Nature Deep learning methods have been used to design proteins that can neutralize the effects of three-finger toxins found in snake venom, which could lead to the development of safer and more accessible an...

First post on BlueSky - sharing our latest paper!
So thrilled to have been part of this exciting collaboration - using AI to design new protein-based therapeutics for #snakebite 🐍
www.nature.com/articles/s41...