Very recently, President Barack Obama was sent a letter that contained a mysterious white powder. That white powder was ricin. Now this is not the first time someone or a group of people has attempted to use ricin to harm people. In 2011, four Americans were arrested for attempting to poison hundreds with ricin, as well as plotting to blow up several government buildings. So why has ricin recently become so popular within the terrorist community? The answer to this question lies within the biology of the ricin beans.
Ricin specifically targets the ribosomes in the human body. Ribosomes are responsible for creating proteins. Ricin is a protein with two chains and essentially via ingestion, injection, or inhalation it enters the body and finds the ribosomes. The first chain of the ricin breaks open the wall of ribosomes and the second one enters and ceases protein synthesis. Once protein synthesis has stopped, the body is unable to function any longer. Your body requires proteins and if proteins are ceasing to form, essentially you just completely shut down.
sources: video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojJKzPEhm58
article - http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=murderous-mail-how-dangerous-ricin-attacks
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