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RICIN Bio-terrorism Agent
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The protein ricin is a toxin from the castor bean (Ricinus communis).
Ricin can be extracted from castor beans and is known to have an average lethal
dose in humans of 0.2 milligrams (1/5,000th of a gram), though some sources give
higher figures. It is considered to be twice as deadly as cobra venom.
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The 2007 Guinness World Records
Book considers ricin the world's most potent plant toxin.
Despite ricin's extreme toxicity and utility as an agent of chemical/biological
warfare, it is extremely difficult to limit the production of the toxin. Ricin
is easy to produce, but is not as practical nor likely to cause as high
casualties as other agents. Ricin denatures (ie, the protein changes structure
and becomes less dangerous) much more readily than anthrax spores, which may
remain lethal for decades. (Jan van Aken, an expert on biological weapons
explained in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel that he judges it
rather reassuring that Al Qaeda experimented with ricin as it suggests their
inability to produce botulin or anthrax.)
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Pure ricin could be dispersed through the air, but ozone, nitrogen oxides, and
other pollutants would oxidize it within a few hours, rendering it harmless.
Since it acts as an enzyme, catalyzing destruction of ribosomes, even a single
oxidation is likely to render the ricin molecule harmless. Presumably it could
be sealed inside some sort of dust particle that would dissolve in water, but
this would be difficult. The major reason it is dangerous is that there is no
specific antidote, and that it is very easy to obtain (the castor bean plant is
a common ornamental, and can be grown at home without any special care). Ricin
is actually several orders of magnitude less toxic than botulinum or tetanus
toxin, but those are more difficult to obtain.
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