Illumination of therapeutics by toxicology: a personal view

1. My specialties are therapeutics and toxicology. When we think in classical terms about drugs, therapeutics refers to curative healing, toxicology to the capacity to produce harm. However, they are not opposite disciplines, but rather reflect a continuum along the dose-response curve of a drug or toxin. Since antiquity, the study of toxicology has underpinned and illuminated therapeutics. Even the most potent toxins, such as botulinum and ricin, are used for therapeutic purposes. 2. In the case of one of my favourite research topics, the herbicide paraquat, I illustrate how investigating methods to treat patients poisoned by it has led to important advances in knowledge in medicine and therapeutics. Studying paraquat has launched my own research group on a path towards elucidating the mechanisms of the chronic neurological side effects of the antipsychotic drug, haloperidol, which is used widely to treat schizophrenia. In tracing these tortuous paths, the roles that serendipity and creativity play in research and their implications for education and funding policies are high-lighted.