After the high school group finishes their tour, Dr. Wayne seestwo patients. Jeff Slater is a biochemist working for a biowarefarelab at the CDC. He is currently working on a project to develop anew neurotoxin and is using sarin as a model substance. Suddenlywhile working the lab alarms go off and Jeff accidentally knocks avial of sarin over and a bit of the liquid splashes onto his armbetween his gloves and lab coat. He suddenly starts to feel dizzy,his heart starts pounding harder than ever, and he has shortness ofbreath. He feels incredibly sluggish and tries to get to the exit.As he approaches the lab door, his muscles cramp up and he fallsdown and hits his head, knocking him unconscious. His colleaguefrom across the hall happens to see him fall and calls for help.Jeff is given oxygen and taken to the nearby hospital, whichhappens to have a neuromuscular specialist. The sounding of thealarm turns out to have been just routine testing of a newsystem.
1. Dr. Wayne looks over the results and finds that theacetylcholinesterase activity is lower than normal. The normalrange is 100% and Jeff's range is 44%. Dr. Wayne knows from Jeff ’scolleague that he is a bioweapons biochemist. Dr. Wayne figures outthat Jeff has been working on synthesizing a new sarin-likebiochemical weapon and suspects Jeff has a type of poisoning thatis similar to that of sarin. What is the mechanism of action ofsarin or a sarin-like chemical? How would exposure to a sarin-likepoison affect the amount of sodium going into the muscle cell? Whatneeds to happen to Jeff's post-synaptic membrane to remedy hisparalysis. Physiologically what do we need more of and where?
