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Published online 30 March 2004 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news040329-1
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Snakes help with the laundry
Venom can break down blood-stains on clothes.
Chemists have stumbled on a bizarre source for a useful detergent: poisonous snake venom. Enzymes in the Florida Cottonmouth's spit dislodge blood-stains from clothes, researchers this week told a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Anaheim, California.
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