This team oversees identifying novel targets that can unleash the potential of animal venoms. This includes studying the basic biology of target organisms and collaborating with amateur societies.

WG1 will discuss and identify  potential new targets, both at the organism and at the functional level, in each area of the therapeutics, cosmetics, and agrochemicals fields. Moreover, WG1 will aim to bring these new targets to the laboratory bench and will promote ongoing and future research to validate these targets. Finally, this working group will establish a strategy to develop common citizen-science approaches for venom research.

Tasks

• Review the current knowledge on existing and putative new targets.
• Establish links with amateur societies.
• Incentivise venom research through its promotion at relevant agencies.

This group will assess protocols, technologies and procedures within venom research, by producing standardised strategies for better quality control and study comparison in all scientific fields involved.

WG2 is in charge of standardising the protocols and data comparison procedures among the different laboratories that are involved in venom research. This will facilitate the understanding of all results obtained and will ensure that they are accurate, reproducible and comparable. WG2 will review current pipelines in the different steps of venom research, identify critical steps in venom research and evaluate the potential application of innovative tools that increase the pace of venom research.

Tasks

• Devise best practice and guidelines for venom characterisation, selection of most interesting compounds, production and functional assessment of specific small molecular weight compounds, peptides and proteins.
• Evaluate the most promising novel tools to foster venom research.
• Define standard protocols in each experimental step of the various venom-related disciplines.
• Provide methodological guidelines for the publication of results.
• Contribute to the organisation of meetings, STSM, and training activities.

The main mission of this Working Group is to promote the work of the researchers within the network of the COST Action. This will be achieved by aligning the academic approach with the industrial strategies and needs.

WG3 will increase the interplay between academic researchers and industrial partners to transform the discoveries, inventions or expertise of researchers into innovations for society. To achieve this goal, WG3 will promote interactions and collaborations between academic laboratories and companies for exploitation of venom bioactive components. Moreover, it will identify specific opportunities already existing in EU to initiate and support the development of new academia-industry collaborations, and it will educate academic members of benefit sharing and intellectual property.

Tasks

• Solicit and invite industrial representatives to participate in EUVEN meetings and workshops
• Identify industry needs to help academic laboratories tailor their discovery efforts towards the relevant targets.
• Coordinate ongoing research on novel targets and encourage joint research efforts with industrial partners.

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This Working Group will address the integration of the different web resources that are vital for venom research. Their mission is to develop a web resource that unites the multidisciplinary data needed to research venoms.

WG4 will oversee obtaining a unified web resource that includes not only the venom components but structural data, molecular targets and their biological activities. The Group will merge available venom toxin databases in a novel format and will identify and implement in it the most useful analytical tools for modelling 3D structure, molecular interactions and evolutionary patterns.

Tasks

• Identify major issues in the available databases and online tools, along with best improvement strategies.
• Identify the most desirable features that should be included in the web resource.
• Implement the web resource.

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