Today in class we learned about the fava beans. It's normal if you haven't heard of this plant before, but you would definitely recognize the name if you are a crazy fan of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. It appeared in one of his most famous quotes in the film "Silence of the Lambs", when Dr. Lecter said "A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti." From this, you can probably imagine what the beans are like. Indeed, they are dangerous, and just lethal enough to make them interesting.
Fava beans are interesting because they only harm the "chosen ones". The "chosen ones" are the people who have favism. Favism is an inherited enzyme deficiency carried by 400 million people, which makes it the most common enzyme deficiency in the world. The sickness is also closely linked to G6PD deficiency. G6PD (glucose-6phosphate dehydrogenase) is in every cell in the body. It protects cellular integrity, and clears chemical elements that would destroy the cell. The fava beans have 2 sugar-related compounds called vicine and convicine. They produce free radicals like hydrogen peroxide. If the hydrogen peroxide isn't cleared out by G6PD, it will start to attack your red blood cell. This is why fava beans can be deadly.
There are a lot more examples in nature when plants use chemicals to defend themselves. The Indian vetch in Asia and Africa has a chemical weapon of neurotoxin that can cause paralysis. The jimsonweed, one of the nightshade family, contains a large portion of alkaloids that can be toxic to insects and other herbivores.
-Andy Liu '15
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