Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 09:11:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Sean Barry <sjbarry@ucdavis.edu> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2729$foo@default> Subject: RE: ordering colchicine
On Tue, 27 Jul 1999, Chris Hind wrote:
> > substance schedules (I-IV). I'd be VERY interested in checking your
> > sources for this.
>
> What would you say if I told you it was in a textbook written by one of my
> previous college instructors?
As I said, cite the book, and I'll check it out. If colchicine proves to
have been banned in the US because of some ridiculous experiment by
teenage miscreants, then you'll have my apology.
> > Colchicine _is_ a remarkably (potentially) hazardous
> > substance, as its unsafe use can cause mitosis (cell division) to stop in
> > its tracks (in the user). This may not matter much with regards to brain
> > and muscle tissue, but could spell doom for intestinal epithelium, liver
> > tissue (think neoplasms, aka cancer), and meiotic cell types, such as
> > sperm and ova primordia.
>
> Yep, that would do the job. Ethidium bromide is nice too for when doing PCR.
Hmm--
Ethidium bromide is used as a nucleic acid indicator to track migration in
a gel and as a concentration change indicator in quantitiative PCR. Its
potential for mutagenesis is well-known but so far not well quantitated.
The hazards of colchicine have been understood for decades.
Again, please cite your sources
Sean Barry
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