Black widow spider rises to the occasion

April 12 2007 at 11:14AM

Jerusalem - Israeli researchers are looking into whether venom from
spiders, including the deadly black widow, could help cure impotency, the
Yediot Aharonot reported on Thursday.

The research was launched after observations that some men bitten by
spiders "suffered from prolonged {*filter*}s," the mass-selling daily said.

"This is the first research of its kind and could help a great number of
men," the paper said.

Among the spiders beings studied are the black widow, the female spider
who is known for sometimes eating her mate after {*filter*}, as well as
two other arachnids that can be found in Africa and South America, it
said.

The research is being carried out by the urology department at Rambam
Hospital in the northern city of Haifa. - Sapa-AFP