One of a number of poisons produced by certain plants, animals, and bacteria.
The term "toxin" is frequently used to refer specifically to a particular protein produced by some higher plants, animals and pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria. A toxin typically has a high molecular weight (as compared to a simple chemical poison), is antigenic (elicits an antibody response), and is highly poisonous to living creatures.
The word "toxin" comes from the Greek "toxikon" = arrow poison and was introduced to medicine in 1888 by the Berlin physician Ludwig Brieger (1849-1909) as a name for poisons made by infectious agents.
Cited: Definition of toxin. (2002). Medicinenet.com. Retrieved June 29, 2008, from website: http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=5828
any poison produced by an organism, characterized by antigenicity in certain animals and high molecular weight, and including the bacterial toxins that are the causative agents of tetanus, diphtheria, etc., and such plant and animal toxins as ricin and snake venom.
Cited: toxin. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved June 29, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/toxin
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