Ricin extracted from castor is particularly toxic. It can bring fatal harm to people by inhibiting protein synthesis, inducing cytokine damage, lipid peroxidation damage and inducing apoptosis.
First, ricin is a highly toxic plant protein with two peptide chains, which is contained in castor seeds. This toxin can damage the liver, kidneys and other body organs, leading to bleeding, degeneration and death. It can agglutinate and dissolve red blood cells and inhibit cardiovascular and respiratory center paralysis. In your body, like a tiger rushing into a flock of sheep, the liver and kidneys are so fragile that they have experienced the destruction of ricin, and even breathing has become a luxury, which cannot be alleviated until the end of life.
For example, the ricin that poisoned Georgi Markov, a 49-year-old Bulgarian writer in Britain, was only 0.45 mg, even less than the size of a pill. Four days later, the organ failed and there was no way to save it.
Secondly, ricin is a cytotoxic substance. It is terrible in that it acts on the microscopic world such as small molecule nuclei, cell walls and cell membranes, and inhibits the protein synthesis necessary for human body. The more serious consequence is that once infected with ricin exceeds 7mg, the current medical means can not interfere with the treatment results for the time being, and no matter surgery, medicine or infusion, it can not be saved.
This highly toxic and incurable feature makes cyanide, a notorious chemical and biological weapon, feel ashamed. Can play the title of chemical and biological weapons, but also have enough qualifications.
Second, ricin toxicity can cause death. On the one hand, the symptoms of ricin poisoning are no different from ordinary diseases, which need to be carefully tested by professional forensic doctors to determine. On the other hand, because it can kill people and is easy to extract, it is used by spy agencies and extremist organizations as a weapon and tool to secretly destroy opponents.
After all, chemical and biological weapons are jointly banned, at least on the surface. However, many special tasks still have necessary needs, and ricin can be selected and become the result of measurement and action under practical guidelines.
Third, ricin has extensive toxic damage. Ricin has a wide and long transmission route and can be used as a carrier in umbrellas, urban water supply systems, food, needles and even air. If this convenience is used by the military, biological agents are transported to densely populated areas by bombs, planes, sprays, etc. The scope of infection is incalculable, and people and animals in the whole city and county can't escape their fate. Compared with other chemical weapons, the power is amazing.
At the same time, the extraction of ricin is not complicated. In the laboratory, a little more professional researchers can extract it. No complicated chemical process is needed, and the supply of materials is almost always visible and inexhaustible. It is relatively simple for ordinary college students and graduate students to find problems and make finished products without the guidance of high-end professors. Compared with the complicated production process of cyanide, it is one of the best choices for chemical and biological weapons.
Fourth, the toxicity of ricin will make people miserable after organ failure. The reason why chemical and biological weapons are banned has a lot to do with the inhuman nature. The inhumanity of ricin lies in the suffering, inner despair and organ failure of the poisoned person, but it has to go to the abyss. In the same situation, people can't help but think that pesticide BC has withered, and people's consciousness is clear, giving you time to regret, but still can't change the fate of dying.
I feel blood. My heart, liver, kidney and digestive tract are gradually losing vitality, and my breathing is getting faster and faster. However, my brain has always been awake, as if I had been drugged but faced with torture and my will had collapsed. This kind of bad experience that you can't live without asking for it is obviously not in line with humanitarianism.
Generally speaking, ricin is more in line with the standards and requirements of chemical and biological weapons in terms of toxicity, secrecy, killing range and inhumanity. The matrix for extracting ricin is castor, a seemingly harmless plant. It makes sense to say that castor is the mother of biological weapons. However, castor can not meet the requirements of chemical and biological weapons, and only after purification and extraction can it play its greatest role.
Of course, everything has two sides. Ricinus communis is also a Chinese herbal medicine, and its leaves can relieve swelling and detoxify and relieve itching. Roots can dispel wind and promote blood circulation, relieve pain and soothe the nerves. It is also widely used, mostly in aviation industry and other fields. This is because castor seed can squeeze oil, with high viscosity, low freezing point, cold resistance and high temperature resistance, and it does not freeze at -8~- 10℃ and does not solidify and denature at 500~600℃, which has incomparable characteristics with other oils. It is an important raw material for chemical industry, light industry, metallurgy, electromechanical, textile, printing, dyes and other industries and pharmaceutical industry. These are the advantages of castor.
However, my personal suggestion is to avoid contact with wild castor as much as possible, not to eat it, especially to take care of children who are not sensible. It is hoped that more advantages of castor can be extracted and utilized in the future, and the biochemical weapons made of castor must be resolutely destroyed.