Did the CIA spike a bakery in France with hallucinogens?

// August 27th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Drugs, Poisons, Sex and Reproduction, The Realm of Bizzare, Unethics

On August 15, 1951 a small town in southern France called Pont-Saint-Esprit briefly entered the twilight zone. Hundreds of people reported acute psychotic episodes and physical symptoms such as nausea. They experienced traumatic hallucinations, and 50 of those affected were put in asylums. Five died. The event was later traced back to pain maudit – cursed bread.

In 2009 American journalist Hank Albarelli cited evidence that it was actually caused by CIA experiments into LSD. His book A Terrible Mistakesuggests the mass hallucinations experienced that day was a government funded field experiment into the newly found drug.

There would be potential for LSD to be used as chemical warfare – sprayed onto an army it would turn soldiers into… well… I don’t know but with guns involved I think it would be bad. I’m not sure if his conclusion is correct, but his article makes a compelling argument.

I have to say, conspiracy theories really do it for me. I think they’re great. Nothing like a little paranoia to keep you on your toes. There are, however, other opinions on what caused the Pont-Saint-Esprit madness.

One explanation is ergotism. Ergot is a group of fungi (most prominently Claviceps purpurea) which grow on rye, wheat and related grain-producing when-I-grow-up-I-want-to-be-bread plants. The fungus produces a neat little cocktail of alkaloid drugs which cause spasms, diarrhea, nausea and hallucinations – similar to those experienced at Pont-Saint-Esprit that fateful day.

In fact, the psychosis could have been caused by ergot or LSD, both have similar symptoms. LSD was first derived from the ergot alkaloid ergotamine. Controlled doses of ergot poisons have been used to treat migraine headaches and control bleeding after childbirth. Accidental, and dangerous, ingestion of ergot was known as Saint Anthony’s Fire (not to be confused with Saint Elmo’s Fire) for the monks of Saint Anthony who were really good at treating it. Ergotism was also blamed for Agent Scully’s hallucinations in the episode Never Again, where she gets a badass tattoo with some red ink that could have been coloured with ergot.

Greek myth time! In Ancient Greece annual initiation ceremonies were held for the cult of Persephone and Demeter. Demeter was the goddess of grain, farming and plenty, a bit of an Earth mother goddess with rich wheat coloured hair and a flowing dress. She guaranteed a good harvest. She had a daughter called Persephone, who loved the flowers. One day when Persephone was looking at some flowers in a field, Hades the god of the underworld noticed her, opened up the ground and abducted her. When Demeter noticed her daughter was gone, she was stricken with grief and refused to bring the harvest.

Persephone was trapped in the underworld for months on end. Desperate for her hand in marriage, Hades would offer her food, but Persephone know not to eat the food of the dead or she would never be able to leave. However one day Hades offered her a pomegranate, her favourite dish, and she ate six seeds.

Up in the mortal world, the land was dying. People were starving, having never experienced such famine. No matter how they prayed to the goddess she would not bring the harvest. Seeing the despair of the people, Zeus the king of the gods went down to his brother Hades and asked if he could bring Persephone back to her mother. Awkward conversation ensued.

Hades finally agreed, but oh noes! Persephone had eaten the food of the dead! The six pomegranate seeds meant that she had to spend six months of the year in the underworld as Hades wife. The other six months she would live with Demeter her mother. That’s why we have the seasons – autumn and winter when Demeter mourns, spring and summer when Demeter is reunited with her daughter.

Anyhoo, to be initiated into the Demeter and Persephone cult was called the Eleusinian Mysteries, some mysteries including this myth with added details. I think some of the mysteries included the use of pomegranate as a contraceptive (the link between fertility and death, perhaps.) You also had to fast during the initiation, and afterwards you would drink a barley drink called Kykeon and great revelations would be revealed.

Kykeon, made of barley, quite possibly tainted with ergot. Revelation or hallucination, you tell me.

How indigenous Australians used toxic cycad plants

// June 4th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Poisons

Cycads on Fraser Island

They were the plant du jour in the time of the dinosaurs, and are still around today in tropical areas around the globe. I found this one while on a bushtucker walk on Fraser Island in Queensland, the largest sand island in the world. Fraser Island was home to the Butchulla people, indigenous Australians who lived off the land and sea as six different clans.

Cycads had a special role in Butchulla culture. They were part of the initiation ceremony for girls to enter womanhood. To become a woman, a girl had to make bread from the cycad fruit and feed her family.

Cycad fruit starts green, but becomes bright orange when ripe. The orange is a warning, because cycads are toxic. Eating the fruit can cause vomiting, liver damage and death. There’s some evidence that it contains a neurotoxin, which can accumulate in the body and eventually cause paralysis. To be safe to eat, the toxins have to be removed from the fruit. If a girl didn’t do it right, her family would get sick and she would be exiled from the tribe.

With the guidance from a female elder (the Butchulla people, unlike most aboriginal cultures, were matriarchal) a girl would harvest seeds from the cycad. The seeds were put in water to blanch out the toxin, a process that took roughly four days. The seeds were safe to eat once the fish had started to nibble on it. Once safe, the seeds were ground down into flour and made into bread.

Cycads are dioecious plants, meaning that one plant is either male or female. Most modern plants have both genders in the same organism. The plant pictured had changed in the last two years from male, producing a pollen cone, to female, producing a seed cone. Sex change in cycads can be caused by changes in the environment, possibly so that females are only there when there are sufficient nutrients to produce a fruit.

Sexy smoky eyes prevented infections in Ancient Egypt

// April 11th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Poisons, Recent Research, Sex and Reproduction

Today I made a new video about how Kohl eye makeup may have prevented eye infections in Ancient Egypt.

Ancient Egyptian Eyes Saved Lives from Captain Skellett on Vimeo.

The video was sparked by a recent letter published in Analytical Chemistry which you can read here (at least, see the abstract. You have to pay for the rest).

Did the Ancient Egyptians know about this property? The researchers seem to think so, some of the lead compounds found in kohl do not occur naturally, and must have been man made by early chemists. The Ancient Egyptians believed that kohl around the eyes would give people protection from the gods, and it was prescribed by physicians to prevent eye infections.

Still, nowadays you should check that any Kohl you’re going to use is lead free, because you could be at risk of lead poisoning. Besides, with hygiene and antibacterials, eye infections aren’t such a big problem.

Absinthe drinking makes Homer something something

// January 15th, 2010 // 6 Comments » // Drugs, Poisons

When I was but a lass, freshly ID’d and able to finally hit the local tavern, there was a rumour around that Absinthe was THE drink if you wanted to get drunk fast, and as a bonus, if you could get the proper stuff, it causes hallucinations. OMG terribly exciting. I could feel jolts of electricity down my spine as I tremulously ordered (with much nudging from my friends) a round of Absinthe.

And oh, the DRAMA of it all! Green liquid, a sugar cube on a special spoon, and all of it on fire! We could only afford one each, before our pockets resolutely returned us to ordering jugs of Sangria. The bitter licorice taste lingered on though, and we were rollickingly tipsy.

Ah, the folly of youth. ‘Tis all a lie!

At the core of the myth is that Absinthe contains essential oil from the Wormwood plant, which is psychoactive and hallucinogenic. It’s true that Wormwood does contain thujole, which is a GABA antagonist (it blocks the effect of the neurotransmitter GABA), but it’s more likely to cause seizures than hallucinations. Also the amount of thujole in Absinthe is very low because of the way the spirit is made, and nowadays there are rules about what percentage of thujole is allowed. People have studied old bottles of the stuff too, and it wasn’t found to be super-thujolated. It was very popular with poets and artists; they said the green fairy helped them be more creative.

More creative, or more deadly? One tale tells of a man who killed his family in 1906 and claimed Absinthe drove him crazy. He was actually excessively drunk from a number of drinks, and was found guilty. After this and the subsequent public outcry, Absinthe was prohibited in Switzerland. France and the USA followed suit. Nonetheless, it’s the remarkably high alcohol content in Absinthe that makes it a dangerous drink, you’d definitely die from alcohol poisoning before dying from Wormwood poisoning.

The scariest story by far is the one in Eurotrip where a guy makes out with his sister after an Absinthe bender. “Dude, you kissed your sister!” That’s way worse then killing your family!

So by all means, if you like Absinthe (I’m not a fan) then drink it, but any mind-alterations are probably just your imagination. You’re supposed to mix it with water to let the flavours come out. Has anyone actually done this? Apparently it makes the clear green liquid go cloudy, because the essential oils are not soluble in water. Now that’s science.

Rhododendron Poison – Truth behind the science of Sherlock Holmes

// December 27th, 2009 // 7 Comments » // How Things Work, Poisons, Science in the Movies

I saw Sherlock Holmes last night with SexyMan, the cinema was packed and we sat in the second row from the front. I watched the movie like a fan watches a tennis match, but surprisingly it was still good!

It might have helped that any great expectations had been dashed by a friend on facebook, but nonetheless I thought it was an enjoyable, action-packed, fast-paced fast-talking very sexy flick.

But then I’m not a film critic. I am, however, a science geek. This post has been carefully written to avoid spoilers, but if you want to play it safe go and see the movie and come back in 3 hours. K?

At one point in the movie they talk about rhododendron poison, but don’t explain at all what it is.

Rhododendrons (and azaleas, the dwarf (midget) version) are a moderately toxic group of plants. If you’re out strolling the mountains near the eastern side of the Black Sea in Turkey, or generally in the USA or UK, then don’t eat this plant:

Rhododendron ponticum.

Not all members of the genus are poisonous, but play it on the safe side and don’t eat random plants.

It’s not HUGELY poisonous, about 100 grams need to be ingested by a 25 kg child to seriously poison them, but it is a problem for livestock – particularly sheep, goats and cows – who munch on the flowers and get seriously sick.

Of course, if you boiled it down and concentrated the liquid… well that’s a different story. The toxin is water soluble, so it can be extracted from the leaves and flowers.

The toxin is called grayanotoxin. It binds to specific sodium ion channels in cell membranes (which I’ve talked about before) and prevents inactivation, causing persistent activation of muscle and nerve cells. This causes a range of symptoms based on where the activated cells are located, such as muscle weakness, vomiting, sweating, salivation, seizures, and either dangerously slow or dangerously fast heartbeat, depending on the dose. In the end, it can cause death.

Don’t think you’re safe just because you don’t make a habit of eating plants – the toxin is also found in the nectar of flowers, and bees that feast on them can make “mad honey.” It took out an army in 401 BC lead by Xenophon of Athens against Persia – hundreds of soldiers vomiting and unable to walk for a day. No-one died, unlike in 67 BC, where the army of Mithradates IV killed Pompey the Great’s soldiers while they were incapacitated. It’s biological warfare, victory has never tasted sweeter.

Mad honey is still a problem today – not so much the stuff in a grocery store (which is diluted and problem tested and stuff) but organic honey direct from the beehive can be risky. Plus some men use it as an aphrodisiac. Idiots.

That’s the rhododendron poison, making a comeback after 2400 years on a big screen near you! What did you think of the movie? There were lots of sciencey deductions made that weren’t very well explained, so if you have any questions, post a comment and I’ll do me best!

“It tastes like burning!” How (and why) chili brings the heat

// December 21st, 2009 // 2 Comments » // How Things Work, Poisons, Science at Home

Last night I made spicy Dhall for dinner, because lentils and peas may be high in protein, but they’re also really lame. I used a recipe from an old English cookbook from the 70′s with all pounds and ounces. Couldn’t be bothered converting stuff, so I made it up along the way. Hell, that’s the only way to cook. Here’s a quick recipe.

Hypothesis:
That this will make a vegetarian high protein meal that doesn’t taste like boredom.

Method:
1. Boil lentils or split peas or whatever in water until soft.
2. Melt 50 g of butter and cook an onion, a chili and some cumin, coriandar and cinnamon in a separate pan.
3. Combine the shizz in both the pans together with a can o’ tomatoes and add spices till it tastes good.

Discussion:
It took a bit of experimenting spice-wise to get it nummy, but the final result supported my hypothesis. There was much noms.

During the cooking process I had to remove the chili seeds and membranes ‘cos that’s the done thing, and the whole “delicately extract with a knife” thing really wasn’t working for me (I prefer the roughly stabbing kind of knifery) so I just took it out with my fingers. Big mistake. They were burning all night. As I laid in my bed and cried “WHY?” I wondered “why?” What’s the SCIENCE?

The one responsible for the ouchy-pain is a long guy called capsaicin (and a few of his brothers), mainly found in the membranes around the seeds. It’s flavourless and works by activating pain receptors in nerves, specifically the receptor TRPV1 which usually opens at temperatures above 43 C. Opening causes positive ions to enter en masse, causing the membrane to depolarise and the neuron to fire, discussed here in Frankensteiny detail. There are loads of different pain receptors in your body – each one triggers at a different temperature or pressure. Some are linked directly to motor nerves, so you can react to a hot pan by pulling your hand away faster than you’re brain can say “Ow!”. When you have some chili (or get it all over your skin like I did) your nerve cells actually think you’re on fire.

Making big molecules like capsaicin is a pain in the ass, so there has to be a butt-kicking reason to do it or plants wouldn’t bother. Even if they liked it spicy like Cartmans hand.

Spicier!

The heat of a hot chili doesn’t stop humans eating it (quite the contrary), but a mouse or a cow might be less inclined to munch a bunch once they’d tried some. That’s good, because herbivores are fond of chewing things which destroys the seeds. Birds are unaffected by capsaicin and can happily eat chili peppers all the time, good for the plant again – birds aren’t great at chewing, but they are VERY good at flying around and crapping out seeds.

Capsaicin is also an antifungal and antibacterial, and protects the plant with it’s awesome microbe fighting power. It also protects your curry from the evils of mould and might even impart some health benefits. The molecule keeps shape at high temperatures, which is why you can cook the hell out of a curry and it will still taste spicy. It doesn’t dissolve in water, so you’re better off drinking milk if you feel the burn, casein protein acts like a detergent and captures the chili into small ineffective globs. I guess drinking soap would work too, but milk is probably tastier. Ever tried soap? (Some smell so good I can’t resist. You’d think I would know better by now.)

This post would not be complete without a plea for someone to send me chili chocolate icecream. I had it once and I must have it again! The search will never cease until I am in it’s hot chocolatey frozen embrace once again. Seriously, have you ever tried it? It’s the spiciest thing I’ve ever had and paradox in a waffle cone.

Effects of Alcohol – Why You Shouldn’t Drink on an Empty Stomach

// November 9th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // How Things Work, Poisons

Nothing in the fridge. She would have to eat her bed before going out

Everyone knows you’re supposed to eat something “to line the stomach” before you hit the town, but why is that?

Alcohol is pretty volatile, around 5% of what you drink is expelled through the lungs. It’s why you can smell alcohol on someone’s breath, and it’s how breath testers work. Breathalysers just take advantage of the fact that there is a constant ratio of 1:2300 between the amount of alcohol exhaled and blood alcohol level.

The rest of the alcohol is broken down in a three step process.

1. Alcohol dehydrogenase converts alcohol to acetadehyde with the help of coenzyme NAD. This is the rate-limiting step in the metabolism of alcohol, and the reason you can only metabolise about one standard drink an hour.

2. Aldehyde dehydrogenase converts the aldehyde to acetic acid (vinegar.)

3. Acetic acid is broken down into carbon dioxide and water, releasing energy. This energy, along with the molecules of NADH that are produced along the way, is the reason alcohol is high in calories.

This be a rare example of zero-order metabolism, meaning that it doesn’t get faster when there’s more alcohol. It’s probably due to the small amount of enzyme (or the coenzyme) in that first step becoming saturated after only a small amount of alcohol.

So why do they say you shouldn’t drink on an empty stomach? It all comes back to that nifty enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase. 85% of the metabolism happens in the liver (that be why liver disease is common ‘mongst alcoholics) and 15% happens in the stomach where the enzyme is present in the lining. It breaks down the alcohol before it can even enter your bloodstream!

Drinking anything on an empty stomach causes rapid gastric emptying, reducing the time the alcohol is exposed to the alcohol dehydrogenase in your stomach lining. Rapid emptying means that the alcohol hits your bloodstream faster and in greater concentration, resulting in a state of inebriation that is more ass than class.

Women have about 50% less gastric alcohol dehydrogenase than men, one of three reasons that women have higher blood alcohol levels than men after the same number of drinks. The other two being that men have more muscle, which has lots of blood vessels giving the alcohol more space to dilute in, and women have more body fat, which does not soak up alcohol and therefore concentrates it in the blood.

So ’tis true indeed that you should eat well before a night of drinking. I myself have conducted extensive experiments on this matter (in the name of science), and never have I been drunker than at my pirate-themed 21st, which I attribute to my skipping dinner that night. Although the two for one cocktail hour probably didn’t help.

Zombification

// October 26th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Drugs, How Things Work, Poisons, The Realm of Bizzare

Halloween is on the horizon. Today’s post is on the science of Zombies. Because Zombies, apparently, exist. In Haiti.

Haiti is located in the Caribbean, near Jamaica and Cuba. Ah… the Caribbean… Anyway, this story is not about cocktails served in coconuts with little umbrellas on the side. It’s more about mind control.

The guy mainly credited with this discovery is Wade Davis, who wrote two books on the subject The Serpent and the Rainbow, a bit of an adventure, Indiana Jones wannabe read and Passage of Darkness, a more scientific work. Davis went on location at Haiti, which has voodoo as part of their religion, and found evidence that zombies really exist – having met a man called Clairvius Narcisse whose death was reported in 1962 by hospital staff, and 18 years later claimed to be an escaped zombie.

Davis managed to get his hands on some ‘zombie powder’ by bribing some informants. The powder was found to have toxins from a variety of natural sources: Bufotoxin from toads, a neurotoxin released on the skin, and the reason why toad-licking can be psychedelic. Also the reason why many princesses took to kissing frogs to find a prince, in my opinion; and puffer fish venom – tetrodotoxin, which can cause muscle paralysis, low blood pressure, and a pseudocomatose effect, and which always reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Homer thinks he’s going to die because he ate puffer fish at a sushi restaurant.

However, the amount of toxins in each of the samples Davis gathered varied wildly, and often the amounts were so trace as they would scarcely have any effect at all. Not to mention, getting the amount of toxins correct to make someone enter a death-like state without actually dying would be an extraordinary feat. We do a similar thing with anesthetics, but natural products tend to vary the concentration of toxin they have plant-to-plant (or toad-to-toad in this case) so getting it right would be trickier than teaching your parrot to swim. Davis’ answer to this is psychobiological – the idea that psychoactive drugs are effective not only because of what they do on a biological level, but also because of what we expect them to do and the cultural influences around us. If someone thinks a little bit of alcohol will make them giggly and relaxed, then they’ll giggle their way out of a goose egg after a mere drop of rum. In this case, if you think a powder is going to knock you out and make you appear dead, if you really BELIEVE it, then maybe it works even if the quantity of drug is a little low. It’s like the placebo effect, except with zombies.

Following the death-like state, the zombie is revived and kept in a submissive state by being given Datura stramonium, aka the Zombie Cucumber. Datura is both highly poisonous (NOT a party drug!) and psychoactive, and due to a mixture of toxins it contains it can cause severe anticholinergic delirium – read ‘off your face, probably in a bad way’. Again, part of the effects are probably due to mind and cultural influences. If someone just almost died, and then is given Datura and treated like a zombie – well that’s a pretty bad trip!

However, let me point out that if there are zombies as Davis suggests, there are not very many of them, and they don’t eat brains. Davis believed zombies either worked a farm as cheap labour, or more likely are turned into zombies by a Bokor (like a voodoo high priest) as an extreme form of punishment similar to a death sentence used by a secret society in Haiti called the Bizango. It’s interesting to note that creating a zombie in Haiti is considered illegal, and if a body is buried it is considered murder, whether the person dies or not. Good to know the law is on the side of the undead.

In essence, zombification may exist as a form of punishment by voodoo believers, and involves a seriously dangerous drug cocktail (not the kind served with a paper umbrella) whose action is probably assisted by mental and cultural influences. Turning people into zombies is against the law in Haiti, and totally not cool anywhere. Cross me and I might make you walk the plank, but I won’t turn you into no brain-craving undead.

References:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2004/12/09/1260445.htm

http://paranormal.suite101.com/article.cfm/real_zombies_exist_in_haiti

http://science.howstuffworks.com/zombie.htm

http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/bookreviews/davis1.htm

http://social-anthropology.suite101.com/article.cfm/zombie_from_haiti_to_halloween

The Buzz about Nanobees

// September 1st, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Poisons, Recent Research

Nanobee shown at one zillion times magnification.

Bee toxin sucks, in my opinion. As a young lass I was always scanning the grasses for bees whenever we reached the port. I was quite allergic to them – a sting would leave my foot hugely swollen and painful, and I am significantly better at hopping on my left leg as a result of being stung on my right foot. As I grew older and was stung a few more times, the allergy gradually disappeared and now a sting causes nothing but a bit of pain, and a fierce anger at the entomological world.

Perhaps it is time to let this anger abate, as bee venom may become another warrior in the fight against cancer. Crew, meet Melitten. Melitten, Crew.

Melitten is the major component of bee venom, making up over half of the juices in the sting. It is an anti-inflammatory agent and causes the body to release cortisol, the stress hormone. It’s also cell-lytic, which means that it pokes holes in cells and they leak EVERYWHERE and then die. As you may have noticed, it’s a peptide, and the amino acid sequence is GIGAVLKVLTTGLPALISWIKRKRQQ. That’s 26 amino acids of pain.

It’s the cell-lytic part that’s useful, because it’s really not fussy WHAT it breaks apart. If it has a membrane, Melitten is there and filling it more full of holes than a gangster with a semi-automatic. It can be used as an antibacterial or antifungal, plus as an anticancer agent.

To maximise the “anticancer” part and minimise the “attacking the rest of your body” side-effects, researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have put the toxin onto little nanoballs of perfluorocarbon, which protects it from degradation in the body. By attaching tumour-specific bits and pieces to the nanoball as well, it is more likely to deposit the Melitten load at the site of the cancer, particularly as tumours often have leaky blood vessels. Perfluorocarbon is not new in biomedical science – it is sometimes used in eye surgery, and is an element in artificial blood.

Mouse trials have been successful. You can read more about the nanobees here.

Oleander – Small Flowering Shrub OF DOOM!

// May 6th, 2009 // No Comments » // Poisons

Ahh, Oleander. Nice to say, pretty to look at, but have a nibble and you’ll be dead ten ways from Sunday! They say that it’s the most deadly plant in the world, but I have to say I have a problem with that – there’s probably loads of other really terrible plants in the amazon, like a giant triffid kind of pitcherplant where it bends over and EATS YOU when you’re walking through the jungle.

A Triffid!

Remember the weird knocking sound they made it the old Triffid movie? Now there’s a film that could use a remake, not that there was anything wrong with the old one, but you know… new technology could make a man-killling plant REALLY FREAKING COOL! Another plant deadlier than Oleander is the giant fungus in the X-Files episode entitled “Field Trip”, my favourite X-Files eppy ever. Although I suppose that’s classified as a fungus, not a plant.

Anyway, back to Oleander. There are a lot of wild allegations on the internet about how poisonous Oleander is, and I’m really not sure that all of them are true. Take the following, in order of increasing ludicrousness, and judge for yourself:

You can get sick from inhaling the fumes of burning Oleander wood
Children have died from drinking water in vases full of Oleander flowers
People have died using a twig of Oleander to stir their soup while camping
You can get poisoned from eating honey from bees which have eaten Oleander nectar

I mean, some of these MIGHT be reasonable, but some sound really ridiculous to me. Is it SERIOUSLY that poisonous? SERIOUSLY? Why does it need to be so poisonous? Did it evolve out of a Darwinian need to stop people from using its twigs as toothpicks? I think we need to quantify the claims as to the extreme poisonousness of Oleander with a series of experiments (any volunteers?)

With over 6 types of cardiac poisons, including a really nasty one NAMED after it (Oleandrin) which inhibits cellular Na/K ATPase pumps (always a downer), this is like a hardcore plant of death and destruction. You would think it would be all black and threatening, or at least slightly creepy like the triffids. But no, check it out.

Beautiful and deadly. Nothing sexier than that!