Plants from the genus Strychnos, located in Southeast Asia, were known to be highly toxic as early as the 1500s. The poison itself was isolated in 1818 by two French chemists Pelletier and Caventou. Strychnine was one of the first complex biological molecules to be synthesized artificially in a lab. R. B. Woodward completed this task in 1954. Doctors once prescribed small amounts of strychnine as a treatment for common illnesses, but today it is used primarily as a pesticide. Strychnine is the active ingredient in rat poison, and it is used to eliminate birds that attack crops. Strychnine acts as a very strong stimulant by blocking inhibitory receptors in nervous tissue, causing an increase in heart rate, seizures, and respiratory arrest. Strychnine poisoning can be treated by taking barbiturates until the liver has cleaned enough strychnine from the blood.
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