Making puffer fish toxin in a flask
Sunday, March 8, 2020 - 17:40
in Health & Medicine
In Japan, puffer fish is considered a delicacy, but the tickle to the taste buds comes with a tickle to the nerves: fugu contains tetrodotoxin, a strong nerve toxin. In low doses, tetrodotoxin is shown in clinical trials to be a replacement for opioids for relieving cancer related pain. Scientists have now introduced a new route for the total synthesis (complete production of a natural product from current materials) of tetrodotoxin.