A SLOW loris might look cute and cuddly, but its bite can be fatal.
What makes it so lethal has long been elusive. So Sonja Krane and Koji Nakanishi, chemists at Columbia University in New York, turned their attention to a gland on the primate’s arm that it licks before grooming. When Krane analysed the proteins in fluid from the gland she found that the amino acid sequence of the main protein had striking similarities to the protein that triggers allergic reactions to cats. The protein is probably useful in combating parasites and just happens to be occasionally lethal to…
