Patterns and Processes in Venom Evolution: Comparative, Functional, and Translational Insights

Venoms are potent mixtures of bioactive molecules that have evolved to mediate antagonistic interactions between organisms. Venoms are delivered directly into the internal environment of living recipients via an inflicted injury, where they manipulate normal physiological functioning against the recipients’ interests. Venoms have evolved independently in many different lineages, including microorganisms, plants, and animals, and they are employed in diverse arenas of organismal conflict. Due to their diversity in function, composition, and origins, as well as their immediate connection to organismal fitness, venoms are increasingly recognized as valuable models for studying evolutionary processes associated with adaptation and trait origins. Venomous animals also exert a substantial medical burden that disproportionately affects lower socioeconomic regions, where effective clinical treatment is limited by poor infrastructure, high costs, and low efficacy of available therapeutics. Accordingly, human envenomations by snakebite have been recognized as a Neglected Tropical Disease by the World Health Organization. The exceptional specificity of the target-binding affinities and activities of venom components make them valuable resources for the development of new molecular tools and therapeutic leads. Venom components have historically been used as probes for investigating fundamental physiological processes (e.g., neurotransmission), and numerous toxin-derived compounds are currently being used therapeutically or are in various stages of clinical testing. However, despite more than a century of research on venoms, we have so far only investigated a tiny fraction of the biodiversity of venomous species. New approaches are reducing the timeline for converting understudied systems into systems with resources commensurate with modern model systems. Much remains to be discovered, and each discovery yields new insights into evolutionary processes, leads for novel therapeutics, and/or improved treatments for envenomations. To realize the full potential of venoms, the venom-research community is enthusiastically embracing the latest developments in biotechnology, genomics, theory, and computation. With venom-researcher expertise spread across fields ranging from evolutionary genetics to biochemistry to drug design, the integrative study of venoms provides a unifying theme around which the research community can organize and break new ground in both basic and applied fields, while also yielding tangible improvements in combating the global burden of human envenomations. The 2026 Venom Evolution, Function and Biomedical Applications Gordon Research Conference and Seminar aims to provide a venue for enhancing the synergism resulting from the union of expertise across interdisciplinary academic and industry professionals with a focus on the incorporation of cutting-edge technology to increase the scale, scope, and throughput of research in the field.