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Published online 4 January 2000 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news000106-6
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Visualizing venom
The deadly venom of the black widow spider contains a toxin that punctures cell membranes. Now researchers have discovered that this destructive stuff looks like a windmill with a hole in the middle, Tracy Smith reports.
The deadly venom of the black widow spider contains a toxin that has fascinated researchers for more than 20 years: the 'alpha-latrotoxin'. One of the many ways in which this protein disables its victims is by punching holes in nerve cell membranes.
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