Recent Episodes
Biological Toxins as Medicines
Animals, plants and microbes can all produce deadly biological toxins. Botulinum from a bacterium; ricin from castor beans; and tetrodotoxin from Pufferfish are just a few examples.
What’s still amazing to me is how scientists have learned to tame these deadly chemicals into useful medical treatments.
The botulinum we mentioned is a neurotoxin that can cause life-threatening muscular paralysis, so it can paralyze muscles involved in breathing. On the other hand, small doses are now used in medical and cosmetic treatments. People inject the toxin as BOTOX to smooth facial wrinkles. It can relieve the intensity and frequency of migraines by reducing nerve activation and reduce spasticity after strokes.
Snake venoms are also used in medical treatments. Mayan pit vipers produce anticoagulants that can dissolve clots after a stroke and resolve deep vein thrombosis. Other pit viper toxins produce ACE inhibitors that can treat heart failure and high blood pressure. Some can even target cancer cells.
That’s also true for plant toxins. Ricin can kill in small amounts but in cancer treatments, it’s being attached to antibodies that deliver it to cancer cells. Taxol, also derived from plants, works in breast and ovarian cancer treatments.
And the list continues. Pufferfish toxins and cone snail venom are both non-addictive options for pain management. Without biomedical science, we wouldn’t know any of this. Let’s proudly support science and funding for lifesaving studies.
More Information
Friends or Foes? Emerging Impacts of Biological Toxins
Toxins are substances produced from biological sources that have deleterious effects on a living organism. Despite the obvious health concerns of being exposed to toxins, they are having substantial positive impacts in a number of industrial sectors. Several toxin-derived products are approved for clinical, veterinary, or agrochemical uses.
Therapeutic Uses of Botulinum Toxin
Botulinum toxin type A (hereafter referred to as botulinum toxin), one of the most lethal biologic toxins, has been found to be of therapeutic value in the treatment of a variety of neurologic and ophthalmologic disorders.
Ricin: An Ancient Story for a Timeless Plant Toxin
The castor plant (Ricinus communis L.) has been known since time immemorial in traditional medicine in the pharmacopeia of Mediterranean and eastern ancient cultures. Moreover, it is still used in folk medicine worldwide.
From Poison to Promise: The Evolution of Tetrodotoxin and Its Potential as a Therapeutic
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin that was first identified in pufferfish but has since been isolated from an array of taxa that host TTX-producing bacteria. Although lethal doses for humans range from 1.5–2.0 mg TTX (blood level 9 ng/mL), when it is administered at far lower levels, TTX can potentially treat a variety of medical ailments, including heroin and cocaine withdrawal symptoms, spinal cord injuries, brain trauma, and some kinds of tumors.
