Contact Admin. By Richard Gray for MailOnline. It is one of the most toxic substances known to man and has been used to poison kings, emperors and even prize winning racehorses.
But scientists have discovered one small population of people living in a remote part of the Andes in north west Argentina who have developed some resistance to arsenic. They have found that over thousands of years the local inhabitants there have developed a genetic ability to metabolise the arsenic to reduce the impact it has on their bodies.
Local women in San Antonio de los Cobres in the Andes pictutred above carry a genetic variant that gives them greater tolerance of the poison arsenic by helping them to metabolise the element more efficiently.
Worldwide arsenic poisoning caused by contaminated water and food is thought to harm more than million people. Even low levels of arsenic poisoning can cause damage to the lungs, heart, kidneys and liver, leading to cancer, heart disease and diabetes. The Emperor was said to have died from stomach cancer.
The physician who led the autopsy found evidence of a stomach ulcer but some people said it was the most convenient explanation for the British, who wanted to avoid criticism over their care of the Emperor. Napoleon's father died of stomach cancer.
