On this very special crossover episode with our friend Matt Candeias from In Defense of Plants, we’re switching things up from poison to remedy, focusing on the plant-derived wonder drug, aspirin! We cover the ancient use of salicylic acid-containing willow bark to relieve pain and fevers and then reveal how such a harsh compound was transformed into a useable pharmaceutical. We also delve into what happens in your body when you pop an aspirin and discuss why on earth so many plants make this incredible compound. Spoiler – it’s not just a wonder drug for humans.
| History | Biology |
| Jeffreys, Diarmuid. Aspirin: the remarkable story of a wonder drug. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2008. | Vane, J. R., and R. M. Botting. “The mechanism of action of aspirin.” Thrombosis research 110.5-6 (2003): 255-258. |
| Mount, Toni. Dragon’s Blood & Willow Bark: The Mysteries of Medieval Medicine. Amberley Publishing Limited, 2015. | Ecology |
| Starko, Karen M. “Salicylates and pandemic influenza mortality, 1918–1919 pharmacology, pathology, and historic evidence.” Clinical Infectious Diseases 49.9 (2009): 1405-1410. | Vlot, A. Corina, D’Maris Amick Dempsey, and Daniel F. Klessig. “Salicylic acid, a multifaceted hormone to combat disease.” Annual review of phytopathology 47 (2009): 177-206. |
| Durner, Jörg, Jyoti Shah, and Daniel F. Klessig. “Salicylic acid and disease resistance in plants.” Trends in plant science 2.7 (1997): 266-274. | |
| Ryals, John A., et al. “Systemic acquired resistance.” The plant cell 8.10 (1996): 1809. |
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, you won’t pay a penny more, but we’ll get a small commission which helps us keep things running. Thanks!
