Frog or synthetic? Experts question origins of toxin ‘linked’ to Alexei Navalny’s death in Russia – The Times of India

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny (File photo)

Experts believe the deadly toxin that allegedly killed Russian dissident Alexei Navalny in February 2024 was likely created in a lab rather than extracted from wild South American poison dart frogs, as claimed by multiple European nations. Five European countrieslast week said tests confirmed that Navalny was poisoned with epibatidine, a powerful toxin found in the skin of poison dart frogs native to South America, accusing the Russian state of responsibility.While these frogs can be easily purchased in South American markets or legally exported with permits, scientists say making a deadly poison from actual frogs would be impractical. Ivan Lozano, director of Tesoros de Colombia, explained that it would take “an enormous number of frogs” to create a lethal dose for humans, making it virtually impossible to gather enough for this purpose.The toxicity of these frogs presents another challenge. According to University of Illinois researcher Devin Edmonds, the frogs only become poisonous through their wild insect diet. “In captivity, they are fed fruit flies so they aren’t poisonous,” he explained, adding that even wild frogs lose their toxicity after months in captivity.Andrea Teran from Ecuador’s Jambatu Center pointed out that synthetic versions of the toxin are much easier to obtain from laboratories. This aligns with records showing that while over 800 Anthony’s poison arrow frogs have been legally exported from Ecuador in the past decade, their natural toxins wouldn’t be practical for such use.The Kremlin has denied the posion allegations altogether, through spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who called them “biased and baseless.” However, Russia and the Soviet Union have a documented history of developing and allegedly using various toxins against political opponents, from ricin to Novichok.Britain, Sweden, France, Germany, and the Netherlands jointly stated they believe Navalny was poisoned with epibatidine while serving his sentence for “extremism,” charges that he and his supporters maintained were politically motivated.