Q 1: Lecture 6- food poisoning Flashcards
what are some common causes of food posoning
Toxins produced by bacteria -preformed in the food -produced after ingestion Toxins produced by fungi -molds (mycotoxins) -mushrooms Poisonous plants Shellfish poisoning Poisonous animals
who is Edmond de la pommerais
Medical doctor/homeopath, he is an example of a common breed of poisoner who killed his mistress for money in 1863, after taking out several large insurance policies on her life. The suspicious insurance companies exhumed her body. Extracts of her stomach and scrapings of the floor where she vomited contained enough poison to kill a rabbit and a dog. they could not chemically test it but they looked back at his purchases. The doctor could not account for a large amount of recently purchased digitalin.
what is digitalis Glycosides
Foxglove (and several other plants) contain cardiotoxins (increase cardiac output) which act similar to the drug digitalis. Used to treat “dropsy”, but ‘the dose makes the poison”. Too much disturbs normal ionic balance in heart muscle cells, causing fatal arrhythmias and heart failure.- heart stops
who is Jim Jones
Founder and leader of a weird cult called the Peoples’ Temple. Established Jonestown (Guyana) as a model communist community. After a US congressman and his party were killed during a mission to investigate human rights violations at Jonestown in 1978, Jones encouraged 909 inhabitants of the community (304 children) to commit “revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world”. They drank cyanide-spiked grape-flavored Kool-Aid. Jones shot himself.
Cyanide inhibits the electron transport chain and blocks oxygen utilization and energy production inside cells. Seizures, apnea, cardiac arrest, coma and death in minutes.
what does cyanide do
Cyanide inhibits the electron transport chain and blocks oxygen utilization and energy production inside cells. Seizures, apnea, cardiac arrest, coma and death in minutes.
wha is georgi Markov
Well known Bulgarian dissident and defector at height of the Cold War. Murdered in 1978 in London by the KGB (or Bulgarian equivalent). An assassination worthy of a spy novel, he was poisoned when an umbrella “gun” was used to inject him with a tiny pellet filled with ricin.
WHAT IS CYanides chemical formula
H-C=N
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THREE LINES BTW CN
who is allen Touring
break the anigma code, gay. hormone therapy injected cyanide in an apple
who was murdered with the umbrella gun. what was used
Georgi Markov
filled with Ricin
what is Ricin
Ricin is a complex glycoprotein toxin extracted from castor beans, produced by the plant Ricinus communis. It acts to block protein production by interfering with ribosome function, causing multiple organ failure.
who is alexander Litvinenka
Former Russian spy and KGB colleague of Vladimir Putin.
Sought asylum in London in 2000 after falling out with Vlad.
Died in 2006, 3 weeks after drinking tea with two fellow Russians in a London hotel. The tea was laced with Polonium-210. He died of acute radiation poisoning.
Polonium-210 is a radioactive element which emits high energy alpha particles, causing widespread damage and organ failure.
British police accused the Russians of assassination, sponsored by the Kremlin – probably Putin himself. Vlad says it wasn’t him, but Po-210 is hard to come by.
what is the effect of Ricin
shuts down organs by interfearing with ribosome
what is polonium-210
radioactive element, causing widespread damage and organ failure.
botulism
Botulinum toxin is produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. It’s the most toxic substance known. People usually get botulism food poisoning from ingesting the toxin directly (preformed) in processed foods that were not adequately sterilized. Spores are heat tolerant.
what is the ost common for of food poisoning
from bacteria
