In order to survive and multiply, in the process of fighting against various toxic substances from the outside world, human beings constantly discovered and learned about poisons until they were used by human beings. It took about 5, years to develop and form modern toxicology in the 2th century. It can be seen that the whole development process of modern toxicology is the development process of human origin and civilization history.
Ancient people's understanding of poisons and poisoning process
In primitive society, people lived by gathering, hunting, fishing and other production methods, and in the process of obtaining food, they often ate poisonous animals and plants by mistake and caused poisoning. In the chapter of "Training for Repairing Affairs" in the ancient Chinese book "Huainanzi", it is said that "Shennong tasted a hundred herbs and encountered seventy poisons in one day". After long-term practice, the ancients learned to distinguish toxic and non-toxic substances through the shapes, colors and tastes of many animals, plants and minerals, and recorded them in words. Zhou Li Tian Gong called gall alum, cinnabar, realgar, purple stone and magnet "five poisons".
The ancients also used poison as a tool for hunting, war and murder. For example, in the 4th century BC, ancient Rome used poison as a tool for killing. Until 82 BC, Sulla issued a law prohibiting the use of poison as a tool for killing. Various words about poisons were gradually created and derived in the practice of the ancients. For example, the word "toxic" in English originally came from the Greek word "toxon" which means bow and arrow, and thus derived "toxicology". During this period, there were records of poisons and poisoning in ancient Egypt and western books.
In the struggle against diseases, people have gradually accumulated experience in treating diseases with natural products. Shennong Ben Cao Jing, the first pharmacology in ancient China, contains 252 kinds of plant medicines, 67 kinds of animal medicines and 46 kinds of mineral medicines, with a total of 365 kinds, which are divided into upper, middle and lower categories. The ancients thought: the top grade "take more clothes and take them for a long time without hurting people"; Chinese products are "non-toxic, toxic and appropriate"; The inferior product is "poisonous, not long-lasting." It shows that the ancients have realized that drugs have toxic and side effects, and know the relationship between toxic and side effects and the course of medication and the dose of < P >. Chao Yuanfang's Treatise on the Causes of Diseases in Sui Dynasty has a unique view on etiology.
In Song Dynasty, Song Ci mentioned that he was killed by taking poison (suicide or homicide), and put forward the method of poison identification earlier. He was regarded as the originator of forensic medicine.
The Compendium of Materia Medica, compiled by Li Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty, lasted for 2 years, and was a masterpiece with great influence on China and the world.
The germination and development of modern toxicology
1. The research of toxicology in the germination
generation began in the 16th century, and its background was that Western Europe began to enter the capitalist era. With the progress of science and technology, the productivity developed by leaps and bounds. After long-term scientific practice, a group of scholars engaged in scientific research have realized that they should get rid of understanding things only by experience and intuition, and observe the regularity and essence of things through experiments. The most noteworthy thing is that Paracelsus(1493~1541), a Swiss scientist, first laid the experimental foundation of toxicology, began to sprout the bud of modern toxicology, got rid of the mode of intuitive and empirical research, and tried to observe the essence and laws of things by means of experimental research, analysis and comparison and logical reasoning, and made unprecedented achievements. Paracelsus is also a famous medical scientist. He has a famous saying, "What is there that is poison? All substances are poisons, there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy. "Translated into Chinese," all substances are poisons, and nothing is nontoxic. Only the correct dosage can make drugs not become poisons ". It is clearly pointed out that the relationship between the dose of chemical substances and their toxicity is the central issue of toxicology. During this period, together with other scholars, he studied the toxic hazards of occupational lead poisoning, mercury poisoning, soot and soot, and put forward the early concepts of occupational toxicology, Forensic Toxicology and environmental toxicology, which laid the foundation for the origin of modern toxicology.
2. Development
Toxicology as an independent discipline in the 19th century was first proposed by Spanish scholar Orfila(1787~1853). The early 19th century was just the beginning of industrial revolution in europe. Many workers were engaged in heavy handicraft production in factories and mines, and the working environment was harsh and lacked protection. There were many serious acute poisoning incidents, such as lead poisoning in ceramic workers, mercury poisoning and phosphorus poisoning in most mining workers, silicosis in most miners, and formaldehyde poisoning. In order to meet the needs at that time, many scholars carried out a lot of experimental research work around chemicals exposed to various occupations, which made experimental toxicology develop rapidly. Magendie(1783~1855), Orfila(1787~1853) and Lewin(1854~1929) successively conducted a series of experimental toxicology studies, which laid the foundation for pharmacology, experimental therapeutics and occupational toxicology, among which Orfila made great contributions. He used thousands of dogs to do experiments in France. It has been repeatedly observed that there is a "dose-effect (reaction) relationship" between toxic substances and toxic effects of biological organisms, and a chemical analysis method for identifying toxic substances in biological tissues and body fluids has been established, which has opened up autopsy materials and chemical analysis methods as legal evidence of poisoning for forensic medicine and criminology, and promoted the development of forensic medicine and criminology. In 1815 Orfila published the first monograph on toxicology, "Traite de loxicoloie (French)", and proposed that toxicology was an independent discipline. At the same time, many scholars conducted experimental research, such as Claude Bernard(1813~1878), a famous French physiologist, who studied the toxic effects and properties of carbon monoxide and curare. Until the end of the 19th century, German scientists published many monographs on experimental methods and descriptions of various poisons, which promoted the maturity of modern toxicology. From the end of 19th century to the beginning of 2th century, modern toxicology became an independent discipline.
The formation and characteristics of modern toxicology
The 2th century is a period of great development of toxicology, and also an era of stubborn and rapid development of life science. It can be said that the development of modern toxicology and life science are synchronized, and the new theories and technologies of life science have promoted the rapid development of modern toxicology.
The discovery of DNA double helix structure in p>1953 revealed the mystery of life. The deciphering of genetic code, the establishment of the central rule of genetic information transmission and the establishment of recombinant DNA technology have promoted the concept and technology of molecular biology to penetrate into all fields of life science and modern toxicology, so after the 194s, the branches of modern toxicology have mushroomed and developed vigorously. There are more than 3 branches of modern toxicology in China, and academic exchanges are very active. Molecular toxicology and genetic toxicology have opened up new prospects for predicting carcinogenic chemicals after establishing and applying new methods of molecular endpoint.
the formation and development of modern toxicology is based on modern toxicology, and after more than a hundred years' development, it has improved the marginal and applied modern toxicology. It has the following characteristics:
1. The characteristics of interdisciplinary development after the Indian era in the 2th century
(1) Classification of industrial toxicology, environmental toxicology, food toxicology, military toxicology, drug toxicology, clinical toxicology, Forensic Toxicology, analytical toxicology, veterinary toxicology, feed toxicology, management toxicology, insect toxicology, animal toxicology, plant toxicology, radiation toxicology and toxicology history toxicology.
(2) liver toxicology, kidney toxicology, lung toxicology, blood toxicology, eye toxicology, nerve and mental toxicology, behavioral toxicology, immunotoxicology, reproductive development toxicology and skin toxicology are classified according to target organs; (3) biochemical toxicology, molecular toxicology, membrane toxicology, cell toxicology, genetic toxicology, receptor toxicology and quantum toxicology are classified according to mechanism research.
(4) according to chemical substances, the toxicology of metals, pesticides, organic solvents, polymers and materials are classified.
The above numerous branches of toxicology not only intersect within the field of toxicology, but also intersect with related disciplines in the field of life science, thus expanding the scope of toxicology research. It can be expected that new branches of disciplines will emerge in the future.
2. The academic team is constantly growing, and international academic exchanges are frequent
The United States is the first country in the world to establish a toxicology society (196) and the first country to publish the professional magazine "Toxicnlogy and pharmacoiogy" (1958), which is a milestone in the development history of modern toxicology. It not only marks the maturity of modern toxicology, but also promotes its rapid development. Since then, international toxicology societies and national toxicology societies have been established one after another, and academic conferences and international contacts have been frequent. The number of papers is increasing year by year. Every country in the world holds more than 1 toxicology academic conferences every year on average, and more than 7 professional magazines are founded, and 2 academic monographs are published every year. 25 species, the large-scale international toxicology conference held 9 sessions from 1977 to 21, and 9 papers have been published. Since the publication of Chemical Abstracts in 197, up to the beginning of 1991, 67,959 abstracts on toxicity and toxicology of toxicants were collected, of which 12,584 were collected in 1991, 46 times as many as 276 in the last decade of the 2th century (197-1916). The first American Society of Toxicology had only 2 members. After 4 years of development, there are now more than 4, members. The International Union of Toxicology (IUTOX) has a history of 25 years since it was founded in 1977. At that time, there were only 13 members of national and regional toxicology societies, but now it has increased to 43, with more than 2, toxicologists from 37 countries and regions as the main members of IUTOX:
After the establishment of the toxicology society in the United States in 196, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Europe * * *. China Toxicology Society came into being in 198s, during the period of great development of health toxicology. At this time, a team of toxicology specialty department has been formed, with more than 1 members, most of whom are distributed in preventive medical research units. At that time, it was called "Health Toxicology Professional Committee of Chinese Preventive Medical Association". On December 9, 1993, the Toxicology Society of the University of China was formally established. In the same period, 16 secondary professional committees were established one after another, with more than 3 members. By September 21, there were more than 1,1 registered members, and there were more than 3 secondary professional committees and local toxicology societies. In 1997, China Toxicology Society joined the International Toxicology Union and the Asian Toxicology Society. In 1995, in order to serve the motherland, Chinese toxicologists living in the United States established the China Association of Toxicologists Living in the United States, actively engaged in academic exchanges with domestic toxicologists, held a workshop on modern toxicology and its application in China, and published a life science monograph on modern toxicology and its application.
Germany has established a post-graduation education model for toxicologists, which is the product of the combination of education and toxicology, and provides the best education covering all disciplines of toxicology. Educated students can receive systematic theoretical training in various disciplines of toxicology and obtain the certificate of "toxicology expert" issued by the German Association for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology (DGPT). This move by Germany has attracted the attention of toxicology circles all over the world. In 21, at the 9th Congress of the International Toxicology Union, experts from all countries agreed to establish an international accreditation body for toxicologists. Considering the international cooperation in the future, the state should set standards for the education and accreditation of a new generation of toxicologists. China has entered the threshold of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and there are frequent international cooperation and academic exchanges in toxicology. According to our national conditions, the accreditation procedure suitable for China is formulated, which contributes to the training of a group of high-quality toxicologists.
3. The research institutions are constantly improving, and the research projects are more advanced.
Governments, universities and enterprises in various countries have established various toxicology research institutions. For example, the well-known national or military toxicology research institutions in the United States include the National Cancer Institute, and the American Toxicology Planning Organization consists of seven national research units, of which the National Institute of Environmental and Health Sciences is the constituent unit, which is responsible for examining and approving projects funded by the state every year. In 198, 99 topics were established, and the funding amount reached 4 million US dollars, which increased to 8 million US dollars every year in 1992. In 1998, the American Society of Toxicology and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NBEHS) planned to complete a major project "Environmental Genome Research", with a national investment of 6 million US dollars. The purpose of the research was to find genes susceptible to chemical damage. They plan to select 1 people from major ethnic groups, sequence more than 2 genes in each person's genome, and then study the respective functions of these genes in detail, and conduct a health survey on the tested population to study the relationship between these key genes and various high-risk diseases in the tested population. This work is very arduous, complicated and costly, but once it is successful, it will overcome all kinds of incurable diseases of mankind and realize the long-cherished dream of mankind for generations.
famous large enterprises in the world, such as British Imperial Chemical Company, American DuPont Company and Dow Company, have set up toxicology research institutes or laboratories. Every year, huge amounts of money are invested in toxicology research and risk assessment. There are hundreds of independent research units in the United States alone. It is estimated that the world can reach the top scientists. They have excellent scientific equipment and concentrate a large number of high-quality scientific and technological talents, which plays a huge role in the development of toxicology.
4. The development of "toxicology genomics" leads modern toxicology to a new era.
In the 2th century, due to the development of human society, social competition and the needs of human life, people took excessive exploitation and utilization of nature, and the rapid development of industry led to a large number of harmful factors (physical, chemical and biological) being released into human living environment, which endangered human health. The biological effect and mechanism of the interaction between environmental factors and organism have attracted more and more attention. Toxicology has faced a new challenge, that is, it is one of the main tasks of toxicology research to study the susceptibility mechanism of organisms to harmful factors in the environment and to identify and evaluate them, especially to accurately judge the differences of individual genetic susceptibility. Because the research object of toxicology is closely related to the living environment, production activities and lifestyle of human beings, the unique role of toxicology in life science will be fully demonstrated in the social life and health of human beings in the 21st century. The rapidly developed high-tech in the field of life science, with the implementation of the Human Gene Project (HGP) and its great success, has injected new impetus into the development of toxicology.
the development of toxicology in the 21st century has entered a brand-new stage, and the famous poison.