On snails!
Two interesting stories on snails are making the rounds on the internet.
The bad snails:-
BBC NEWS | Health | Snails poison diners in Beijing
At least 50 people have been diagnosed with meningitis after eating raw or half-cooked snails in Beijing restaurants, Chinese media reports.
Tests on snails taken from the restaurant found several infected with a meningitis-causing parasite called Angiostrongylus cantonensis.
The good snails:-
ScienceDaily: Snail Toxin May Spur New Drugs For Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Depression
University of Utah researchers isolated an unusual nerve toxin (OmIA toxin) in an ocean-dwelling snail.
The scientists at the University of Utah say that the toxins ability to glom onto the brain’s nicotine receptors may be useful for designing new drugs to treat a variety of psychiatric and brain diseases including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, nicotine addiction and perhaps even schizophrenia.
Technorati Tags: Snails, Poison, Toxin, OmI, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, Nerve toxin
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