IE 116 1st Edition Lecture 21Outline of Last Lecture Medicinal Botany 2I. 4 techniques of medical discovery from plantsII. Bioprospecting VS BiopiracyIII. IssuesOutline of Current Lecture Plants as poisonI. For Huntinga. As a toolb. InsecticidesII. As A Murder WeaponIII. Accidental PoisoningsCurrent LectureI. For huntinga. As a tool- Curare – South American Arrow Poisonso Liana: a type of woody climbing vine that has poison A nerve poison, blocks nerve-muscle synapse. Death occurs via respiratory paralysis. Poorly absorbed into body, thus still edible!o “One-tree curare”o “Three-Tree curare”- Piscicides - Fish poisono Saponins: soap like foam that stun fish.o Rotenone: toxic to fish insects and humansb. Insecticides – Insect repellanta. Pyrethrin: Attacks salt and causes paralysis and death. From Daisies!i. Many insecticides come from this.ii. Slow and painful deatho Nicotine - very potent, in any form. .5 – 1 mg can be lethal to large mammalsII. As a murder weaponc. The poisoning of Socratesd. Ancient Greeks used poisons to execute prisoners.,e. Hard to detect, easy to kill rivals, for inheritants/succession, or to gain throne.f. Paracelsus – Noted physician = “dose makes poison”g. Madame de Brinvilliers – Killed brother and father for money.a. Tortured by drinking lots of water, Burned and beheadedIII. Accidental poisoning- Quite rare, 30 poisoning in 18 years- Usually due to Coniine (Conium Maculatum)Looks like a carrot and has a lovely flower VERY COMMON and Cicutoxin (CicutaMaculata) Or the water Hemlock- Daturestramonium(Jimson Weed) has also caused accidental poisoning.- As well as RicnusCommunis (Castor Bean). Extremely potent and 1.75 mg is enough to kill. Slow and awful, takes 3-5
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