SCITECH – NOW, THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT TOBACCO

By Henrylito D. Tacio
Two of the most frightening words a doctor could say to a patient are “hemorrhagic fever.”  The virus that causes it, called Ebola virus, has historically killed as many as 90 percent of those who contract it. The current outbreak in West Africa has claimed the lives of about 60 percent of its victims.
The deadly virus may have found its match in tobacco.  Two stricken American health workers received an experimental treatment containing the antibodies derived from tobacco. Since receiving doses of the drug, both patients’ conditions have improved.
“Tobacco plant-derived medicines… are part of a handful of cutting-edge plant-based treatments that are in the works for everything from pandemic flu to rabies using plants — such as lettuce, carrots and even duckweed,” Bloomberg News reported.
Although the technique has existed for years, it’s only in recent years that the treatments have started to reach the marketplace. “For centuries, gardeners have used home-made mixtures of tobacco and water as a natural pesticide to kill insect pests,” the Science Daily reported.
“Producing antibodies in plants is faster and less expensive than traditional manufacturing,” said Mary Kate Hart, an immunology researcher who did pioneering research on Ebola antibodies for the US Army.
“Tobacco has always had negative press,” said 66-year-old Danny Ebelhar, a tobacco farmer from Owensboro who grows tobacco for Kentucky BioProcessing Llc. to use for starch and research other than for pharmaceuticals.  “But now it may come back to be a benefit to mankind.”
In the Philippines, some farmers are finding tobacco as an ally against pests.  Take the case of 35-year-old Serapion Mariano, who has been growing corn for almost a decade now in his farm lot in Bansalan, Davao del Sur.  Like other crops he used to plant before, corn is susceptible to attacks of insects and diseases.
One of the problems he encountered lately is the common stalk borer.  Corn plants from 2 to 24 inches tall may be attacked.  Damage to corn caused by the pest is characterized by wilting and/or dying of the upper leaves or by ragged irregular holes chewed in the newly unrolled leaves.
The common stalk borer, experts say, is caused by the insect boring into the stalk at the soil level and tunneling upward.  The insect may also climb up the plant and tunnel downward into the whorl, creating the ragged holes. A considerable amount of sawdust-like borer feces can be seen in the whorl or coming out of the borer’s entry hole in the stalk.
In the past, Mariano used chemical pesticides to destroy the insects that attacked his crops.  But after attending a two-day training on organic agriculture at the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC) in Kinuskusan, Bansalan, Davao del Sur, he found out that there’s a better way of getting rid of the insects.
“One of the best ways to eradicate the insects is by using tobacco spray,” Mariano said.  Here’s what he did.  He boiled 250 grams of dried tobacco leaves and stems in four liters of water for 20 minutes.  He allowed the water to cool and then filtered it through layered cotton cloth.  He added four more liters of water to the solution and 50 grams of bar soap.  He then poured the solution into corn funnels to kill the stalk borer.
According to MBRLC technicians, the tobacco solution can also be applied as a soil drench around plants to kill cutworms.  It can be used to spray beans to prevent rust disease and also to control aphids, beetles, cabbage worms, caterpillars, grain weevils, leaf miners, mites, stem borers, and thrips.
The tobacco solution, MBRLC technicians claimed, is especially effective against biting or sucking insects.  When applied weekly with a brush, it is effective against ticks and fleas in cattle.
The Florida-based Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO) has developed another kind of tobacco spray.  One kilogram of crushed or bruised tobacco stalks and leaves are soaked in 15 liters of water for 24 hours.  The solution is then filtered and three to five tablespoon of liquid soap is added.  It is sprayed immediately to plants.
“Use tobacco sprays in the evening to allow them to work in the night,” the ECHO reminds.  “And in general, do not spray potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant or any plant in the Solanaceae family in order to prevent the spread of viruses.”
Another warning: “Do not let people or animals drink the solution, and when spraying, wear protective clothing – especially a mask, or apply solutions with a watering can only.  Do not eat vegetables within four days of application and wash them carefully when you do.”
A “green” pesticide industry based on tobacco could provide income for tobacco farmers as well as a new eco-friendly pest-control agent, scientists say.  They describe a promising way to convert tobacco leaves into pesticides with pyrolysis. That process involves heating tobacco leaves to about 900 degrees Fahrenheit in a vacuum to produce an unrefined substance called bio-oil.
The scientists tested tobacco bio-oil against a wide variety of insect pests, including 11 different fungi, four bacteria, and the Colorado potato beetle.  The oil killed all of the beetles and blocked the growth of two types of bacteria and one fungus. “Even after removal of the nicotine, the oil remained a very effective pesticide,” the scientists who conducted the study claimed.
“Tobacco is good – as a pesticide,” the Science Daily declared.  Just how good is tobacco? Here’s another timely tip from ECHO: “Mulch around plants with tobacco leaves to kill or repel aphids, flea beetles, slugs, snails, and thrips.”
In the Philippines, the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) has found that tobacco dust can help lessen the population of nuisance snails that inhabit fishponds and fish cages.
The efficacy of tobacco dust has been proven by studies conducted by a team from the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center in Tigbauan, Iloilo. Field testing in fishponds in Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, Pangasinan, and Ilocos Sur confirmed the validity of the scientific studies.
The studies showed that by following recommended production technologies demonstrated in the farm, there was a marked decrease in the mortality rate of fingerlings from 20 percent to only 5 percent, resulting in about P20,000 savings on production cost per hectare per grow-out cycle.
“Tobacco dust is organic, readily degradable, and environment-friendly,” the NTA said in a statement. “The absence of pesticide residues contributes to the marketability and exportability of local fish and ensures consumer safety, aside from being free from chemical residues,” it added.
Fish exports, particularly milkfish(bangus) and tilapia which used to be among the country’s dollar earners, had been banned in the United States and Europe after they were found to contain chemical pesticide residues due to the extensive use of chemical pesticides.
Tobacco, when smoked, is considered one of man’s greatest killers.  But in some ways, it can also help fight some diseases.  “Tobacco, divine, rare super excellent tobacco, which goes far beyond all panaceas, potable gold and philosopher’s stones, a sovereign remedy to all diseases,” Robert Burton once said.
Tobacco leaves and the smoke generated when they are burned contain over four thousand chemicals.  According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, those who suffer from mental disorders such attention deficit disorder, schizophrenia, and the like may experience positive effects from smoking.  Apparently, doses of nicotine have a short term normalization effect on the EEG (electrical activity in the brain).
“Nicotine has long been a useful tool for researchers interested in probing the nervous system,” said Dr. Ovid Pomerleau, director of the Behavioral Medicine Program of the University of Michigan.
Nicotine is one of the most studied of all drugs. At the beginning of the century, the earliest research into neurotransmitters involved the effects of nicotine.  The first neurotransmitter receptor identified was the nicotine receptor. Nicotine mimics the actions of acetylcholine and has been shown to modulate many neurotransmitters.
Some considerable researches have been made as to the role of nicotine receptors in the central nervous system in human cognitive functioning. Initial investigations of the effect of nicotinic agents in both normal and diseased individuals have confirmed the importance of the integrity of these systems for normal cognitive functioning, Dr. Pomerleau said.
There is now some intriguing new data suggesting that very low doses of nicotine can have dramatic effects in controlling the symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome, a rare neurologic disorder characterized by physical tics and uncontrollable vocalizations which are often filled with obscenities.
“Most patients with Tourette’s syndrome are treated with a neuroleptic (anti-seizure) agent of some sort, and generally respond well to this approach. But there are a certain number of patients that are not as responsive to neuroleptics and need some further help. Our studies suggest that these patients may be helped by nicotine therapy,” said Dr. Paul Sanberg of University of South Florida.
“Good food, good sex, good digestion, and good sleep:  To these basic animal pleasures, man has added nothing but the good cigarette,” Mignon McLaughlin once said.