The Toxicology guide, provides a brief introduction to Toxicology, the agents that induce damage to the living organisms (Toxicants), and the biological mechanisms that respond to the toxicants (Toxic mechanisms), the methods to test the toxicity (Biochemical and molecular methods) & the research and the scope in the field of Toxicology (research and scope).
Toxicology can be defined as that branch of science that deals with poisons, and a poison can be defined as any substance that causes a harmful effect when administered to a living organism. Toxicity itself can rarely, if ever, be defined as a single molecular event but is, rather, a cascade of events starting with exposure, proceeding through distribution and metabolism, and ending with interaction with cellular macro molecules (usually DNA or protein) and the expression of a toxic end point.
The study of toxicology serves society in many ways, not only to protect humans and the environment from the deleterious effects of toxicants but also to facilitate the development of more selective toxicants such as anticancer and other clinical drugs and pesticides.
Toxicology combines the elements of many scientific disciplines to help us understand the harmful effects of toxins on living organisms.
Scientific information is always changing and improving, thus medical and scientific information can become outdated as research advances.