The painful toxins wielded by a giant Australian stinging tree are surprisingly similar to the toxins found in spiders and cone snails, University of Queensland researchers have found.
Associate Professor Irina Vetter, Dr Thomas Durek and their teams at UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience found a new family of toxins, which they’ve named 'gympietides' after the Gympie-Gympie stinging tree (pictured), one of the world’s most venomous plants.
