Thursday, July 7, 2011

Animal and Plant Toxin.

TOXIN - is a poisonous type of substance produced inside the living cells and organisms. Ludwig Brieger was the first to use the term Toxin.


Animal Toxin


Jellyfish also known as jellies, sea jellies or Medusozoa. They are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. They are commonly found in the ocean, some hydrozoan jellyfish are found on the fresh water. All jellyfish sting their prey using nematocysts or also known as cnidocysts. Contact with a jellyfish tentacle can trigger millions of nematocysts to pierce the skin and inject venom and yet the sting of only some jellyfish species causes an adverse reaction in humans. When a nematocyst is triggered by contact by predator, pressure builds up rapidly inside it up to 2,000 lbs/sq. inch until it bursts open. A lance inside the nematocyst pierces the victim's skin, and poison flows through into the victim.Touching or being touched by a jellyfish can be very uncomfortable, sometimes requiring medical assistance; sting effects range from no effect to extreme pain to death. Because of the wide variation in response to jellyfish stings, it is best not to contact any jellyfish with bare skin. Even beached and dying jellyfish can still sting when touched. 





Poison dart frog - also dart-poison frog, poison frog or formerly poison arrow frog is the common name of a group of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae which are native to Central and South America. Unlike most frogs, these species are active during the day and often have brightly-colored bodies. Although all wild dendrobatids are at least somewhat toxic, levels of toxicity vary considerably from one species to the next and from one population to another. Many poison dart frogs secrete lipophilic alkaloid toxins through their skin. Alkaloids in the skin glands of poison frogs serve as a chemical defense against predation, and they are therefore able to be active alongside potential predators during the day.The most toxic of poison-dart frog species is Phyllobates terribilis. It is argued that dart frogs do not synthesize their poisons, but sequester the chemicals from arthropod prey items, such as ants, centipedes and mites. 





Scorpions - are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger. Though the scorpion has a fearsome reputation as venomous, only about 25 species have venom capable of killing a human being. All known scorpion species possess venom and use it primarily to kill or paralyze their prey so that it can be eaten; in general it is fast-acting, allowing for effective prey capture. It is also used as a defense against predators. The venom is a mixture of compounds (neurotoxins, enzyme inhibitors, etc.) each not only causing a different effect, but possibly also targeting a specific animal. Each compound is made and stored in a pair of glandular sacs and is released in a quantity regulated by the scorpion itself.






Plant toxin

Aconitum These herbaceous perennial plants are chiefly natives of the mountainous parts of the northern hemisphere, growing in moisture retentive but well draining soils on mountain meadows. Their dark green leaves lack stipules. They are palmate or deeply palmately lobed with 5–7 segments. Each segment again is 3-lobed with coarse sharp teeth. The leaves have a spiral or alternate arrangement. The lower leaves have long petioles. It contains large quantities of the alkaloid pseudaconitine, which is a deadly poison. 




Buttercup - are familiar wildflowers, favouring open waste ground and acidic soils throughout Nova Scotia, not to mention the middle of the back lawn. Their irritant qualities are probably the basis of the children’s game in which one child presses a buttercup to the sensitive skin just below the chin, “to see if you like butter.” The slight redness caused by such casual contact is supposed, in the game, to indicate a butter lover. Prolonged contact can have more uncomfortable results. The breakdown of a glycoside releases a blister-inducing juice, found in many species while fresh. Generally buttercups have yellow cup-like flowers and deeply divided leaves, which may or may not be fuzzy. 




Poison ivyis a poisonous North American plant that is well known for its production of urushiol, a clear liquid compound found within the sap of the plant that causes an itching rash in most people who touch it. 



Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The anterior pituitary gland :)





O anterior pituitary gland

What made you the master gland?
Only as small as a pea
Like a fruit on a tree.

Located on the brain of humans
And secretes hormones
Example of which is FSH and LH
That acts on the gonads

Human growth hormone you give
Also known as the somatotropin
That makes human
Either tall or short

When mothers give birth
You are there to secrete prolactin
This initiates the production of milk,
That the baby needs to be healthy.

Good thing you are here
Giving what is necessary
Cos so much of you are needed
For everybody’s daily living.






Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Endocrinology, Toxicology and Drug Testing.

ENDOCRINOLOGY

            The endocrine system often is considered as one of the body’s most complex systems. It is responsible in secreting hormones directly into the blood, which has different functions and means of action that affects different organs. Alteration in function of the endocrine system results in a variety of physiologic changes, which may be very serious and fatal, but at times require minimal hospital care. The branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system is called Endocrinology. It is concerned with the study of the biosynthesis, storage, chemistry, and physiological function of hormones and with the cells of the endocrine glands and tissues that secrete them.

  
TOXICOLOGY

            It is the study of poisons. The science of toxicology deals with different effects of chemicals within human body. Nowadays, toxicologists use analytical chemistry to detect foreign chemicals in the body. Sensitivity to toxic agents can be affected by age, gender and accompanying conditions. The pathways of chemicals inside the body are absorption, distribution, mechanism, and excretion. Absorption happens by inhalation or ingestion and through the skin while excretion occurs by urination, defecation and exhalation.


DRUG TESTING

            Some people tend to engaged themselves with abusive substances such as amphetamines, which cause direct damage to health. There is a strong link between crime and to those people who are drug dependent and abused. That’s why sometimes drug testing is done. Drug testing is a laboratory procedure performed to evaluate the type and perhaps the quantity of drugs taken by a person by taking small samples taken of fingernails, saliva, blood or hair or more commonly, urine.