The Risks of Getting Poisoned

There are several thousand species of mushroom in North America, but only a handful that will kill you. Amatoxins bind to the enzyme that transcribes your DNA, rendering your cells incapable of reading the instruction manual that will keep them alive. A single one of any of those contain enough amatoxin to kill an adult. Seven milligrams, one quarter of a grain of rice, is all it takes to killed an adult - compared to a full teaspoon of cyanide.