The power of poison

The natural world is a warehouse full of toxins, and unlike many people still think, toxins can still serve people well.

Poisons can be harmful by interfering with important processes for life. Some toxins, such as arsenic, appear in the form of minerals, but in fact they are mostly produced from living organisms. For example, plants produce toxins to avoid becoming food of other species. Animals also use poison to dispel enemies.'Poisons can be harmful but still beneficial for some species, including humans , ' said Michael Novacek, vice president of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where the exhibition is taking place. 'The power of poison'.

The exhibition has given many other examples showing the 'good' aspect of poison. Usually, the benefits of toxins are related to medicine. For example, the buds that produce salicylic acid can be dangerous in high concentrations. However, at low levels, the chemical becomes a key ingredient in aspirin. Poisons from snakes, snails and fish provide pain relief treatments that have been or are about to be made. Researchers are now testing 300 chemicals created by the Fraser island spider spider to find a cure for breast cancer, while wormwood provides medicinal herbs for malaria treatment.

Natural toxins are mostly produced from living organisms - (Photo: nksd.com)

The benefits of natural toxins are not limited to medicine. Many familiar varieties such as chili, tea, coffee, cinnamon, chocolate and nicotine carry a pungent taste or imitate the effects that discourage the enemy. Nicotine, made by tobacco and some other plants, contains a strong poison that has a direct impact on the nervous system, while chocolate secretes theobromine which can cause mood changes in humans, according to Mark Siddall. belonging to the museum in New York. Moreover, theobromine for dogs has many times the impact. ' A piece of chocolate also contains enough ofobromine to seriously damage a dog belonging to the Yorkie or Jack Russell race, possibly even causing them to die' , ABC News quoted Siddall expert.

However, the strongest poison appeared in the race to equip the destructive weapons to serve the evolution process. For example, a pocket marsupial can swallow some poisonous snakes without fear of their venom. In response, snakes of many generations have been equipped with stronger venom, and they continue to evolve in the direction of overcoming the new snake's poison. Another war of poisons, taking place between bacteria and mold, has provided penicillin antibiotics to humans. Siddall experts also studied leeches and the evolution of compounds used to prevent blood clots. These toxins can affect the blood of prey or are contained in leeches. After smoking enough volume of blood, their body swells up to 8 times more than when they haven't eaten yet, leeches have to prevent blood clots, which can turn them into a living 'brick'.

Like many other toxins, some toxins secreted by leeches can be used to help people. For example, Hirudin, an anticoagulant, has been prepared in the salivary glands of some leeches.