What kind of knowledge is requisite? Got dick in terms of programming, but good with drugs, pharmacology, mycology, botany, toxicology-(extensive, including common natural and synthetic toxins, exotic ones, modes of action, various vetinary differentials in susceptibility, fungal poisons, everything from lathyrogens and blindgrass to sea aenenome venom and potential medical uses of scorpion venoms in treating bran cancer [chlorotoxin, a fraction of the venom in the sting of Leiurus, the deathstalker scorpion, it selectively targets and binds to glioma cells, and is capable of giving a resolution many, many manyfold finer than that of MRI in detecting the buggers. My thought would be to prepare either a radiactive isotope-containing recombinant chlorotoxin or perhaps conjugated to a monoclonal antibody, labelled with a radioisotope pendant group, like how some ligands used to paint a tumour also include a radioactive metal, halogen, chalcogen or what have you.)
Also extensive knowledge of fungal toxins as well as those from plants, and venomous animals and both organic and inorganic chemical toxins toxalbumins (E.g abrin, ricin, curcin) plus various dinoflagellate and cyanobacterial products.
Especially where the fungi are concerned I've had to gain a good WORKING knowhow, in the practical sense since I've been hunting down the delicacies and treats to take home and munch on; in fact I, according to my grandfather was already possessed of quite the encyclopaedic knowledge of species and was able to explain for instance the mode of action of the likes of muscarine, cyclopeptide Amanita hepatoxins (amatoxins, virotoxins, phallotoxins and the protective, possibly, amanullin. This amatoxin is lethal in mice but the toxicity is species selective (its lethal in the murine model but not in humans, IMO there may be a chance of competitive inhibition of toxicity but I may be wrong, IIRC theres at least one of the amatoxins is protective against the rest. Other expertise includes neuropharmacology, biochem and, of course, drugs. Both their chemistry, their pharmacology, toxicity if any of significance, kinetics to a degree, subjective effects of some fairly exotic and little-tasted if at all used psychotropics.
For example, the brominated analog of chlormethiazole, hydroxymethiazole (the intermediate alcohol pre-haalogenation that is formed by cleaving vitamin B1, it seems to be active in and of itself although nowhere near as strong as chlormethiazole plus it tastes like absolute hammered shit, noxious, sulfurous, putrid stinker of a taste. Tastes as foul as ammonium polysulfides smell. Or for example, my recent experimentation with the truly strange alpha-chloromorphide.
