Can mushroom toxin be used as a bioweapon?
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When considering "desirable" properties (chemical, biological, obtainability, etc.) for a bioweapon; can a mushroom toxin meet this criteria? Please give an example.
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Solution Summary
In this brief, 3 paragraph essay we describe whether or not mushroom toxins could be used as effective bioweapons. We define a specific example of a mushroom toxin and then characterize it in terms of bioweapon effectiveness.
3 sources are given for reference
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Mushroom toxin presents a strongly potent means of killing mammals, even humans. If we take the example of the death cap mushroom (1), which is responsible for most accidental deaths, we know that the main route of killing by the toxin it produces is by inhibiting RNA polymerase II, the principle enzyme by which transcription occurs, which is highly lethal to cells (2). Since they are produced by mushrooms the toxin is reasonably easy to obtain, though ...
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