I have a feeling I did a feature on protein toxins in the early days, maybe 20 years ago, but couldn't find it. So I guess it was about time to revisit this field, which is a bit scary but also fascinating.
My feature is mainly about the evolutionary arms race between venomous snakes and their prey species, but I also included a shoutout for other toxic vertebrates including frogs, birds, and of course the duck-billed platypus. Read all about them:
The venom menace
Current Biology Volume 33, Issue 23, 4. December 2023, Pages R1209-R1212
FREE access to full text and PDF download
See also my Mastodon thread where I highlighted all CB features of 2023.
I'm not on Instagram myself, but I believe if you follow CurrentBiology there, you'll find my features highlighted there as well.
Sequence studies show that the three-finger toxins produced by elapid snakes like this banded krait (Bungarus fasciatus) all evolved from a membrane protein that lost its anchor. (Photo: Rushen/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0 Deed).)
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