Ricin vaccine ready for human trials - Medicine & Biotech

Ricin vaccine ready for human trials

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Posted by: Sean Kelly

Ricin vaccine ready for human trials

quote:
Texas researchers will begin clinical trials of a candidate vaccine against the deadly toxin ricin, a biological agent that can only be tested in select labs.

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to conduct the safety trial in humans.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as little as 500 micrograms of ricin -- about what fits on the head of a pin -- is enough to kill an adult. [...] The poison can be made from waste left over from processing castor beans.


Man, who's the poor schmuck who has to volunteer for THAT test!?
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Posted by: Sprocket

Did you know that ricin is a lectin from the castor bean?

All About Lectins: Proteins abundantly found in common foods.

Short excerpt:

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Lectins are proteins of non-immune origin that specifically interact with sugar molecules (carbohydrates) without modifying them. Lectins are found in a variety of species from plants to insects to man. They serve many different biological functions from the regulation of cell adhesion to glycoprotein synthesis and the control of protein levels in the blood. Lectins are also known to play important roles in the immune system by recognising carbohydrates that are found exclusively on pathogens, or that are inaccessible on host cells.

Lectins are often found in common foods, and many of them are blood type specific. Because cancer cells often manufacture copious amounts of antigens on their surface, many lectins will agglutinate them in preference to normal cells.
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