Friends or Foes? Emerging Impacts of Biological Toxins

Graeme C. Clark; Nicholas R. Casewell; Christopher T. Elliott; Alan L. Harvey; Andrew G. Jamieson; Peter N. Strong; Andrew D. Turner

doi:10.1016/j.tibs.2018.12.004

Friends or Foes? Emerging Impacts of Biological Toxins

Graeme C. Clark^*, Nicholas R. Casewell, Christopher T. Elliott, Alan L. Harvey, Andrew G. Jamieson, Peter N. Strong, Andrew D. Turner

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Toxins are substances produced from biological sources (e.g., animal, plants, microorganisms) that have deleterious effects on a living organism. Despite the obvious health concerns of being exposed to toxins, they are having substantial positive impacts in a number of industrial sectors. Several toxin-derived products are approved for clinical, veterinary, or agrochemical uses. This review sets out the case for toxins as ‘friends’ that are providing the basis of novel medicines, insecticides, and even nucleic acid sequencing technologies. We also discuss emerging toxins (‘foes’) that are becoming increasingly prevalent in a range of contexts through climate change and the globalisation of food supply chains and that ultimately pose a risk to health.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	365-379
Journal	Trends in Biochemical Sciences
Volume	44
Issue number	4
Early online date	14 Jan 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibs.2018.12.004
Publication status	Published - 01 Apr 2019

Keywords

biosciences
drug discovery
food/water safety
toxinology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Biochemistry
Molecular Biology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.tibs.2018.12.004Licence: Other

Cite this

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AU - Strong, Peter N.

AU - Turner, Andrew D.

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Friends or Foes? Emerging Impacts of Biological Toxins

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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