Misplaced Pages

Toxicology

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
#207792

57-459: 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

114-525: A classic dose response curve – at a low dose (below a threshold), no effect is observed. Some show a phenomenon known as sufficient challenge – a small exposure produces animals that "grow more rapidly, have better general appearance and coat quality, have fewer tumors, and live longer than the control animals". A few chemicals have no well-defined safe level of exposure. These are treated with special care. Some chemicals are subject to bioaccumulation as they are stored in rather than being excreted from

171-437: A decrease in the number of academic disciplines. One key question is how well the challenge can be decomposed into subparts, and then addressed via the distributed knowledge in the community. The lack of shared vocabulary between people and communication overhead can sometimes be an issue in these communities and projects. If challenges of a particular type need to be repeatedly addressed so that each one can be properly decomposed,

228-415: A multidisciplinary community can be exceptionally efficient and effective. There are many examples of a particular idea appearing in different academic disciplines, all of which came about around the same time. One example of this scenario is the shift from the approach of focusing on sensory awareness of the whole, "an attention to the 'total field ' ", a "sense of the whole pattern, of form and function as

285-481: A qualitative assessment and therefore manipulated. The number of citations is dependent on the number of persons working in the same domain instead of inherent quality or published result's originality. Hippolyte Visart de Bocarm%C3%A9 Hippolyte Visart de Bocarmé (Weltevreden, Java 14 June 1818 – Mons , Belgium 19 July 1851) was a Belgian nobleman and convicted murderer. He poisoned his brother-in-law in order to acquire some urgently needed money. In 1851,

342-499: A retired grocer. They had four children: The couple permanently was short of money. After Fougnies's father died, the count's brother-in-law Gustave Fougnies inherited the property. As Gustave was unmarried and of weak constitution, Hippolyte Visart de Bocarmé assumed he would inherit the fortune soon. In November 1850, Fougnies announced he was to marry, which was a blow to Visart de Bocarmés's hopes. On 20 November 1850, he invited his brother-in-law to Château de Bitremont. During

399-516: A scale, around a norm, hierarchize individuals in relation to one another and, if necessary, disqualify and invalidate." (Foucault, 1975/1979, p. 223) Communities of academic disciplines can be found outside academia within corporations, government agencies, and independent organizations, where they take the form of associations of professionals with common interests and specific knowledge. Such communities include corporate think tanks , NASA , and IUPAC . Communities such as these exist to benefit

456-661: A specific academic discipline, are classified as generalists . While academic disciplines in and of themselves are more or less focused practices, scholarly approaches such as multidisciplinarity/interdisciplinarity , transdisciplinarity , and cross-disciplinarity integrate aspects from multiple academic disciplines, therefore addressing any problems that may arise from narrow concentration within specialized fields of study. For example, professionals may encounter trouble communicating across academic disciplines because of differences in language, specified concepts, or methodology. Some researchers believe that academic disciplines may, in

513-422: A substance causes cancer and to examine other forms of toxicity. Factors that influence chemical toxicity: The discipline of evidence-based toxicology strives to transparently, consistently, and objectively assess available scientific evidence in order to answer questions in toxicology, the study of the adverse effects of chemical, physical, or biological agents on living organisms and the environment, including

570-418: A transdisciplinary team is more holistic and seeks to relate all disciplines into a coherent whole. Cross-disciplinary knowledge is that which explains aspects of one discipline in terms of another. Common examples of cross-disciplinary approaches are studies of the physics of music or the politics of literature . Bibliometrics can be used to map several issues in relation to disciplines, for example,

627-445: A unity", an "integral idea of structure and configuration". This has happened in art (in the form of cubism), physics, poetry, communication and educational theory. According to Marshall McLuhan , this paradigm shift was due to the passage from the era of mechanization, which brought sequentiality, to the era of the instant speed of electricity, which brought simultaneity. Multidisciplinary approaches also encourage people to help shape

SECTION 10

#1732859194208

684-499: Is ribosome-inactivating proteins , tested in the treatment of leukemia . The word toxicology ( / ˌ t ɒ k s ɪ ˈ k ɒ l ə dʒ i / ) is a neoclassical compound from Neo-Latin , first attested c.  1799 , from the combining forms toxico- + -logy , which in turn come from the Ancient Greek words τοξικός toxikos , "poisonous", and λόγος logos , "subject matter"). The earliest treatise dedicated to

741-483: Is a subdivision of knowledge that is taught and researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined (in part) and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, and the learned societies and academic departments or faculties within colleges and universities to which their practitioners belong. Academic disciplines are conventionally divided into the humanities (including philosophy , language , art and cultural studies ),

798-451: Is an example of an alternative in vitro toxicology testing method; using computer models of chemicals and proteins, structure-activity relationships can be determined, and chemical structures that are likely to bind to, and interfere with, proteins with essential functions, can be identified. This work requires expert knowledge in molecular modeling and statistics together with expert judgment in chemistry, biology and toxicology. In 2007

855-495: Is approaching such a scientific pivot point. It is poised to take advantage of the revolutions in biology and biotechnology. Advances in toxicogenomics, bioinformatics, systems biology, epigenetics, and computational toxicology could transform toxicity testing from a system based on whole-animal testing to one founded primarily on in vitro methods that evaluate changes in biologic processes using cells, cell lines, or cellular components, preferably of human origin." As of 2014 that vision

912-427: Is made up of people from different academic disciplines and professions. These people are engaged in working together as equal stakeholders in addressing a common challenge. A multidisciplinary person is one with degrees from two or more academic disciplines. This one person can take the place of two or more people in a multidisciplinary community. Over time, multidisciplinary work does not typically lead to an increase or

969-453: Is not the legal outcome of the toxicological investigation or the technology utilized, but rather the obtainment and interpretation of results. Computational toxicology is a discipline that develops mathematical and computer-based models to better understand and predict adverse health effects caused by chemicals, such as environmental pollutants and pharmaceuticals. Within the Toxicology in

1026-560: Is the discipline that can be practiced not only by physicians but also other health professionals with a master's degree in clinical toxicology: physician extenders ( physician assistants , nurse practitioners ), nurses , pharmacists , and allied health professionals . Forensic toxicology is the discipline that makes use of toxicology and other disciplines such as analytical chemistry , pharmacology and clinical chemistry to aid medical or legal investigation of death, poisoning, and drug use. The primary concern for forensic toxicology

1083-538: Is without poison; only the dose makes a thing not poisonous." This is often condensed to: " The dose makes the poison " or in Latin "Sola dosis facit venenum". Mathieu Orfila is also considered the modern father of toxicology, having given the subject its first formal treatment in 1813 in his Traité des poisons , also called Toxicologie générale . In 1850, Jean Stas became the first person to successfully isolate plant poisons from human tissue. This allowed him to identify

1140-532: The alkaloid poisons is fundamentally the same as that used today. After three weeks of trial, the court pronounced sentence of death upon Hippolyte Visart de Bocarme. His wife was acquitted. Hippolyte Visart de Bocarmé was executed by guillotine on 19 July 1851 at Grand-Place in Mons . Visart de Bocarmé murder and the toxicologic examinations by Stas have been described as a case in many specialised books on medical jurisprudence and toxicology. In 1968, an episode of

1197-518: The poisoning of people. To work as a toxicologist one should obtain a degree in toxicology or a related degree like biology , chemistry , pharmacology or biochemistry . Bachelor's degree programs in toxicology cover the chemical makeup of toxins and their effects on biochemistry, physiology and ecology. After introductory life science courses are complete, students typically enroll in labs and apply toxicology principles to research and other studies. Advanced students delve into specific sectors, like

SECTION 20

#1732859194208

1254-408: The scientific disciplines (such as physics , chemistry , and biology ), the formal sciences like mathematics and computer science ; the social sciences are sometimes considered a fourth category. Individuals associated with academic disciplines are commonly referred to as experts or specialists . Others, who may have studied liberal arts or systems theory rather than concentrating in

1311-478: The 21st Century project, the best predictive models were identified to be Deep Neural Networks , Random Forest , and Support Vector Machines , which can reach the performance of in vitro experiments. Occupational toxicology is the application of toxicology to chemical hazards in the workplace. A toxicologist is a scientist or medical personnel who specializes in the study of symptoms, mechanisms, treatments and detection of venoms and toxins ; especially

1368-549: The American NGO National Academy of Sciences published a report called "Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy" which opened with a statement: "Change often involves a pivotal event that builds on previous history and opens the door to a new era. Pivotal events in science include the discovery of penicillin, the elucidation of the DNA double helix, and the development of computers. ... Toxicity testing

1425-641: The Jain prince Mangarasa, Khagendra Mani Darpana , describes several poisonous plants. The 16th-century Swiss physician Paracelsus is considered "the father" of modern toxicology, based on his rigorous (for the time) approach to understanding the effects of substances on the body. He is credited with the classic toxicology maxim, " Alle Dinge sind Gift und nichts ist ohne Gift; allein die Dosis macht, dass ein Ding kein Gift ist. " which translates as, "All things are poisonous and nothing

1482-593: The Middle East, Tibet and eventually Europe. Dioscorides , a Greek physician in the court of the Roman emperor Nero , made an early attempt to classify plants according to their toxic and therapeutic effect. A work attributed to the 10th century author Ibn Wahshiyya called the Book on Poisons describes various toxic substances and poisonous recipes that can be made using magic . A 14th century Kannada poetic work attributed to

1539-696: The United States complete residency training such as in Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics or Internal Medicine, followed by fellowship in Medical Toxicology and eventual certification by the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT). Toxicologists perform many different duties including research in the academic, nonprofit and industrial fields, product safety evaluation, consulting, public service and legal regulation. In order to research and assess

1596-444: The analysis of this ToxCast_STM dataset published in 2020 include: (1) 19% of 1065 chemicals yielded a prediction of developmental toxicity , (2) assay performance reached 79%–82% accuracy with high specificity (> 84%) but modest sensitivity (< 67%) when compared with in vivo animal models of human prenatal developmental toxicity, (3) sensitivity improved as more stringent weights of evidence requirements were applied to

1653-644: The animal studies, and (4) statistical analysis of the most potent chemical hits on specific biochemical targets in ToxCast revealed positive and negative associations with the STM response, providing insights into the mechanistic underpinnings of the targeted endpoint and its biological domain. In some cases shifts away from animal studies have been mandated by law or regulation; the European Union (EU) prohibited use of animal testing for cosmetics in 2013. Most chemicals display

1710-418: The arts and social sciences. Communities of academic disciplines would contribute at varying levels of importance during different stages of development. These categories explain how the different academic disciplines interact with one another. Multidisciplinary (or pluridisciplinary) knowledge is associated with more than one existing academic discipline or profession. A multidisciplinary community or project

1767-903: The basic duties of toxicologists are to determine the effects of chemicals on organisms and their surroundings, specific job duties may vary based on industry and employment. For example, forensic toxicologists may look for toxic substances in a crime scene, whereas aquatic toxicologists may analyze the toxicity level of water bodies. The salary for jobs in toxicology is dependent on several factors, including level of schooling, specialization, experience. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) notes that jobs for biological scientists, which generally include toxicologists, were expected to increase by 21% between 2008 and 2018. The BLS notes that this increase could be due to research and development growth in biotechnology, as well as budget increases for basic and medical research in biological science. Discipline (academia) An academic discipline or academic field

Toxicology - Misplaced Pages Continue

1824-552: The benefit of all societies' growth and wellbeing. Regional examples such as Biopeople and industry-academia initiatives in translational medicine such as SHARE.ku.dk in Denmark provide evidence of the successful endeavour of multidisciplinary innovation and facilitation of the paradigm shift. In practice, transdisciplinary can be thought of as the union of all interdisciplinary efforts. While interdisciplinary teams may be creating new knowledge that lies between several existing disciplines,

1881-427: The body; these also receive special consideration. Several measures are commonly used to describe toxic dosages according to the degree of effect on an organism or a population, and some are specifically defined by various laws or organizational usage. These include: Medical toxicology is the discipline that requires physician status (MD or DO degree plus specialty education and experience). Clinical toxicology

1938-536: The chemist Jean Servais Stas proved that Visart de Bocarmé had used nicotine extracted from tobacco leaves as poison . This was the first exact proof of alkaloids in forensic medicine . Hippolyte Visart de Bocarmé descended from the Belgian noble family Visart de Bocarmé. His father was Julien Visart de Bocarmé (1787–1851) and his mother Ida du Chasteler (1797–1873). His father was a nephew of Johann-Gabriel, Marquess of Chasteler and Courcelles . Visart de Bocarmé

1995-694: The current physical sciences. Prior to the twentieth century, few opportunities existed for science as an occupation outside the educational system. Higher education provided the institutional structure for scientific investigation, as well as economic support for research and teaching. Soon, the volume of scientific information rapidly increased and researchers realized the importance of concentrating on smaller, narrower fields of scientific activity. Because of this narrowing, scientific specializations emerged. As these specializations developed, modern scientific disciplines in universities also improved their sophistication. Eventually, academia's identified disciplines became

2052-469: The dinner Fougnies died, with only the count and countess present in the room. Both claimed that Fougnies had died of apoplexy . The examination showed however that Fougnies was forced to swallow a poisonous and corrosive substance. The well-known Belgian chemist Jean Servais Stas then proved with a toxicologic examination that Visart de Bocarmé had used tobacco extract to poison his brother-in-law. Stas earned lasting fame, and his method of identifying

2109-460: The dosage, duration of exposure (whether it is acute or chronic), 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

2166-433: The early twentieth century, new academic disciplines such as education and psychology were added. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was an explosion of new academic disciplines focusing on specific themes, such as media studies , women's studies , and Africana studies . Many academic disciplines designed as preparation for careers and professions, such as nursing , hospitality management , and corrections , also emerged in

2223-463: The effects of chemicals, toxicologists perform carefully designed studies and experiments. These experiments help identify the specific amount of a chemical that may cause harm and potential risks of being near or using products that contain certain chemicals. Research projects may range from assessing the effects of toxic pollutants on the environment to evaluating how the human immune system responds to chemical compounds within pharmaceutical drugs. While

2280-446: The flow of ideas within and among disciplines (Lindholm-Romantschuk, 1998) or the existence of specific national traditions within disciplines. Scholarly impact and influence of one discipline on another may be understood by analyzing the flow of citations. The Bibliometrics approach is described as straightforward because it is based on simple counting. The method is also objective but the quantitative method may not be compatible with

2337-563: The foundations for scholars of specific specialized interests and expertise. An influential critique of the concept of academic disciplines came from Michel Foucault in his 1975 book, Discipline and Punish . Foucault asserts that academic disciplines originate from the same social movements and mechanisms of control that established the modern prison and penal system in eighteenth-century France , and that this fact reveals essential aspects they continue to have in common: "The disciplines characterize, classify, specialize; they distribute along

Toxicology - Misplaced Pages Continue

2394-549: The future, be replaced by what is known as Mode 2 or "post-academic science", which involves the acquisition of cross-disciplinary knowledge through the collaboration of specialists from various academic disciplines. It is also known as a field of study , field of inquiry , research field and branch of knowledge . The different terms are used in different countries and fields. The University of Paris in 1231 consisted of four faculties : Theology , Medicine , Canon Law and Arts . Educational institutions originally used

2451-558: The general study of plant and animal poisons, including their classification, recognition, and the treatment of their effects is the Kalpasthāna , one of the major sections of the Suśrutasaṃhitā , a Sanskrit work composed before ca. 300 CE and perhaps in part as early as the fourth century BCE. The Kalpasthāna was influential on many later Sanskrit medical works and was translated into Arabic and other languages, influencing South East Asia,

2508-583: The innovation of the future. The political dimensions of forming new multidisciplinary partnerships to solve the so-called societal Grand Challenges were presented in the Innovation Union and in the European Framework Programme, the Horizon 2020 operational overlay. Innovation across academic disciplines is considered the pivotal foresight of the creation of new products, systems, and processes for

2565-447: The larger movement towards evidence-based practices . Toxicity experiments may be conducted in vivo (using the whole animal) or in vitro (testing on isolated cells or tissues), or in silico (in a computer simulation). The classic experimental tool of toxicology is testing on non-human animals. Examples of model organisms are Galleria mellonella , which can replace small mammals, Zebrafish ( Danio rerio ), which allow for

2622-458: The organizations affiliated with them by providing specialized new ideas, research, and findings. Nations at various developmental stages will find the need for different academic disciplines during different times of growth. A newly developing nation will likely prioritize government, political matters and engineering over those of the humanities, arts and social sciences. On the other hand, a well-developed nation may be capable of investing more in

2679-584: The pharmaceutical industry or law enforcement, which apply methods of toxicology in their work. The Society of Toxicology (SOT) recommends that undergraduates in postsecondary schools that do not offer a bachelor's degree in toxicology consider attaining a degree in biology or chemistry. Additionally, the SOT advises aspiring toxicologists to take statistics and mathematics courses, as well as gain laboratory experience through lab courses, student research projects and internships. To become Medical Toxicologists, physicians in

2736-524: The political science field (emphasizing the policy analysis aspect). As the twentieth century approached, these designations were gradually adopted by other countries and became the accepted conventional subjects. However, these designations differed between various countries. In the twentieth century, the natural science disciplines included: physics , chemistry , biology , geology , and astronomy . The social science disciplines included: economics , politics , sociology , and psychology . Prior to

2793-423: The prevention and amelioration of such effects. Evidence-based toxicology has the potential to address concerns in the toxicological community about the limitations of current approaches to assessing the state of the science. These include concerns related to transparency in decision-making, synthesis of different types of evidence, and the assessment of bias and credibility. Evidence-based toxicology has its roots in

2850-446: The study of toxicology in a lower order vertebrate in vivo and Caenorhabditis elegans . As of 2014, such animal testing provides information that is not available by other means about how substances function in a living organism. The use of non-human animals for toxicology testing is opposed by some organisations for reasons of animal welfare, and it has been restricted or banned under some circumstances in certain regions, such as

2907-717: The term "discipline" to catalog and archive the new and expanding body of information produced by the scholarly community. Disciplinary designations originated in German universities during the beginning of the nineteenth century. Most academic disciplines have their roots in the mid-to-late-nineteenth century secularization of universities, when the traditional curricula were supplemented with non-classical languages and literatures , social sciences such as political science , economics , sociology and public administration , and natural science and technology disciplines such as physics , chemistry , biology , and engineering . In

SECTION 50

#1732859194208

2964-670: The testing of cosmetics in the European Union. While testing in animal models remains as a method of estimating human effects, there are both ethical and technical concerns with animal testing. Since the late 1950s, the field of toxicology has sought to reduce or eliminate animal testing under the rubric of " Three Rs " – reduce the number of experiments with animals to the minimum necessary; refine experiments to cause less suffering, and replace in vivo experiments with other types, or use more simple forms of life when possible. The historical development of alternative testing methods in toxicology has been published by Balls. Computer modeling

3021-424: The twentieth century, categories were broad and general, which was expected due to the lack of interest in science at the time. With rare exceptions, practitioners of science tended to be amateurs and were referred to as "natural historians" and "natural philosophers"—labels that date back to Aristotle—instead of "scientists". Natural history referred to what we now call life sciences and natural philosophy referred to

3078-446: The universities. Finally, interdisciplinary scientific fields of study such as biochemistry and geophysics gained prominence as their contribution to knowledge became widely recognized. Some new disciplines, such as public administration , can be found in more than one disciplinary setting; some public administration programs are associated with business schools (thus emphasizing the public management aspect), while others are linked to

3135-690: The use of nicotine as a poison in the Bocarmé murder case, providing the evidence needed to convict the Belgian Count Hippolyte Visart de Bocarmé of killing his brother-in-law. The goal of toxicity assessment is to identify adverse effects of a substance. Adverse effects depend on two main factors: i) routes of exposure (oral, inhalation, or dermal) and ii) dose (duration and concentration of exposure). To explore dose, substances are tested in both acute and chronic models. Generally, different sets of experiments are conducted to determine whether

3192-601: Was born aboard a ship heading to Java , where his father had signed to serve as vice-governor. His birth certificate was issued in 1819 in Malaysia . He spent his early years in Java, before his family returned to Europe. Afterwards he lived a few years with his father in Arkansas . He later returned to Belgium and lived in Château de Bitremont. In 1843, he married Lydia Fougnies, daughter of

3249-474: Was still unrealized. The United States Environmental Protection Agency studied 1,065 chemical and drug substances in their ToxCast program (part of the CompTox Chemicals Dashboard ) using in silica modelling and a human pluripotent stem cell -based assay to predict in vivo developmental intoxicants based on changes in cellular metabolism following chemical exposure. Major findings from

#207792