Description
In Western culture, we primarily rely on allopathic methods of diagnosis and healing, while looking with skepticism at forms of alternative and traditional medicine. Despite this, most prescription drugs and treatments have been adapted from observation of efficacy in other cultures worldwide. Abrus precatorius, the rosary pea, contains one of the world's deadliest plant toxins, albrin. Ingestion of a single seed is a fatal dose to humans. Discovery of the rosary pea's use in Ayurvedic medicine, a natural healing system from India, has lead to studies on if the toxicity can be eliminated while still retaining properties beneficial to Western medicine.
