THE poison used to target ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, UK, was a Novichok nerve agent, it has been revealed. Novichok agents - also known as the "N-series" - were secretly developed by the former Soviet Union from the 1970s. They work in the same way as other nerve agents, which disrupt signals to the muscles by inhibiting an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase. The gaps between nerve cells become flooded with acetylcholine, causing continuous muscle contractions. Symptoms include convulsions and difficulty breathing.
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