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Lifestyle
Brad Reisfeld, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Colorado State University

Poisons are a potent tool for murder in fiction – a toxicologist explains how some dangerous chemicals kill

Murder James Bond Assassination
Poisons are often not so clearly labeled. Josefe Photography/iStock via Getty Images Plus

People have used poisons throughout history for a variety of purposes: to hunt animals for food, to treat diseases and to achieve nefarious ends like murder and assassination.

But what is a poison? Do all poisons act in the same way? Does the amount of the poison matter in terms of its toxicity?

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