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From: linda@frcs.UUCP (Linda Jacobson)
Newsgroups: sci.chem,sci.bio
Subject: Re: Snake venom (was Re: natural/synthetic)
Message-ID: <367@frcs.UUCP>
Date: 8 Feb 91 21:14:17 GMT
References: <1991Feb4.095746.15291@uqvax.cc.uq.oz.au> <1991Feb5.040225.19268@midway.uchicago.edu>
Organization: Free Range Computer Systems CC
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Thus spake chi9@quads.uchicago.edu (Lucius Chiaraviglio):

> 	Actually, are snake venoms toxic if ingested?  I thought they had to
> get into the blood or lymph (or CSF, if you're colossally unlucky) to do their
> dirty work.

Since they consist mainly of proteins, I imagine they would be
digested in the stomach and rendered harmless. I'm not sure I'd like
to try, though.

Linda Jacobson



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Linda Jacobson, BVSc				      ...!m2xenix!frcs!linda
Dept of Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Science		     linda@frcs.UUCP
Onderstepoort, University of Pretoria, South Africa

"I have fought against White domination, and I have fought against Black
domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in
which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It
is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is
an ideal for which I am prepared to die." Nelson Mandela, 1964