Molecules: You'd better learn to live with them.
Special Saturday edition of MoTD: aminopterin.
People have (quite understandably) been a little frantic about the putative taint found in pet food in recent days. Friday, ABC News reported that aminopterin was the contaminant, calling it "rat poison." I can't speak to the accuracy of the claim, but I can tell you that aminopterin isn't the kindest of molecules.
aminopterin, like the previously covered methotrexate, is a folate analogue that has found use in chemotherapy. Both work by impairing nucleic acid synthesis, and are quite toxic (the toxicity, unfortunately, shares the same origin as its efficacy in chemotherapy).
Comments
And, remarkably, the mystery cat and dog killer was rodenticide amethopterin (not to be confused with methotrexate).
Posted by: Uncle Al | March 25, 2007 7:50 PM
According to a very recent article, aminopterin is NOT used as a rat poison.
Someone patented its use as a rat poison in 1951, but it has never been used, it would degrade too fast --and be too costly to produce.
http://www.drugnewswire.com/14963/
Posted by: _Arthur | April 5, 2007 8:43 PM