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Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating exposures to toxins and toxicants. The relationship between dose and its effects on the exposed organism is of high significance in toxicology. Factors that influence chemical toxicity include the dosage, duration of exposure, route of exposure, species, age, sex, and environment. Toxicologists are experts on poisons and poisoning. There is a movement for evidence-based toxicology as part of the larger movement towards evidence-based practices. Toxicology is currently contributing to the field of cancer research, since some toxins can be used as drugs for killing tumor cells. One prime example of this is ribosome-inactivating proteins, tested in the treatment of leukemia.
Francesco Redi was an Italian physician, naturalist, biologist, and poet. He is referred to as the "founder of experimental biology", and as the "father of modern parasitology". He was the first person to challenge the theory of spontaneous generation by demonstrating that maggots come from eggs of flies.
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Mitragyna speciosa is a tropical evergreen tree in the coffee family native to Southeast Asia. It is indigenous to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea, where it has been used in herbal medicine since at least the 19th century. It has also historically been used for chewing, smoking, and tea. Kratom has opioid properties and some stimulant-like effects.
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References
- ↑ Kini, R. Manjunatha (June 2020). "Toxinology provides multidirectional and multidimensional opportunities: A personal perspective". Toxicon: X. 6: 100039. doi:10.1016/j.toxcx.2020.100039. ISSN 2590-1710. PMC 7285919 . PMID 32550594.
- ↑ White, Julian; Warrell, David; Eddleston, Michael; Currie, Bart J.; Whyte, Ian M.; Isbister, Geoffrey K. (2003). "Clinical toxinology--where are we now?". Journal of Toxicology. Clinical Toxicology. 41 (3): 263–276. doi:10.1081/clt-120021112. ISSN 0731-3810. PMID 12807310.