Buzz
[Note: No Breaking Bad spoilers here.]
What exactly is this substance and where does it originate from?
Like many other dangerous toxins, ricin is naturally occurring. It’s a protein found in Ricinus communis, the plant that produces castor oil. The toxin can be extracted from the leftover materials (the “mash” or “bean meal”) after castor oil production and processed into a powder, pellet, or vapor form.
What effects does it have, and how severe is it?
Ricin causes cell death by halting their ribosomal RNA, a key part of the molecular machinery that creates proteins. As the cells die, symptoms of ricin poisoning vary depending on exposure, typically starting within 6 to 12 hours.
If inhaled, the victim faces breathing difficulty, chest pain, coughing, nausea, fluid buildup in the lungs, and respiratory failure. If ingested or injected, symptoms can include diarrhea, bloody vomit and urine, seizures, and organ failure in the kidneys, liver, spleen, and/or heart. Death from organ failure can occur within 36 to 72 hours of exposure, as per the Centers for Disease Control.
Even small amounts can cause serious damage. The lethal dose for an adult is about 0.35 to 0.7 milligrams via inhalation (less than the weight of a single grain of sand) and 1 to 20 mg per kilogram of body weight through ingestion (1mg/kg is roughly what you'd get if you ate a small handful of castor beans).
Yikes. So, how can ricin poisoning be treated?
Currently, there is no known antidote for ricin, so the best course of action is to remove it from the body as fast as possible while ensuring organ function and addressing specific symptoms.
Pretty terrifying. What’s its purpose, aside from scaring politicians?
Biomedical researchers have been exploring ricin as a potential cancer treatment for decades. By attaching the ricin protein to an antibody, they create an immunotoxin that targets specific cells. Once this immunotoxin binds to a cancer cell, the ricin begins its lethal work.
Aside from that, ricin is mostly associated with murder and chaos. One of the most notorious cases involves Georgi Markov, a victim of a scheme that could be straight out of a spy novel. In 1978, the Bulgarian writer was waiting for a bus when he felt a sharp pain in his leg. Looking behind him, he saw a man holding an umbrella. The man crossed the street, hopped into a cab, and disappeared. Three days later, Markov was dead, poisoned by a ricin-filled pellet injected into his leg through a modified umbrella.
