Critical Technologies The Role of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (1992) / Chapter Skim
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Public Health
Public Health
Pages 31-42
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From page 32... ...
Other spectacular success stories include the discovery of antiuIcer drugs such as cimetidine and ranitidine, which not only reduce uIcer-related pain and morbidity but also decrease the need for expensive hospitalization. The challenges to biomedical science in the last decade of the twentieth century are imposing; they include autoimmune diseases, mental illness, cancer, geriatric disorders, diabetes, and viral infections.
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From page 33... ...
Biodegradable materials could significantly reduce hospitaTization time after surgery and the associated health care costs. At the present time, organ transplants provide the only way to cure serious organ deficiency diseases, but the shortage of donor organs is overwhelming.
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From page 34... ...
Once a promising lead is identified, chemists must design and synthesize novel molecules that have similar molecular structures but are safer, more effective, or both. The process increasingly relies on chemical insights achieved by using a series of powerful new tools that have evolved from basic research in chemistry: computer modeling of molecular structure, x-ray crystallography, and high-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
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From page 35... ...
Oligonucleotides, small nucleic acid molecules, offer novel opportunities for therapeutic intervention. The sequence of the naturally occurring nucleic acid carries the sense of the genetic message, but the synthetic o:tigonucleotide has an opposite sequence and is therefore described as "antisense." An oligonucleotide with an antisense structure exactly complements a particular DNA or TUNA sequence and can bind to it with high specificity.
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From page 36... ...
Computer graphics depict an antiemphysema drug candidate bound to the human leukocyte elastase enzyme. The large elastase molecule is shown in yellow, green, and purple; the small drug candidate is shown as the red-and-white stick figure embedded in the elastase.
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From page 37... ...
Human growth hormone is available for children whose own hormone production is deficient; human growth hormone also has potential as an anti-aging and antiobesity drug. These powerful hormones, normally made in minute amounts in the body, were previously difficult to obtain in sufficient quantity for essential chemical and medical research; current levels of availability permit their medical exploration in ways unimaginable a decade ago.
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From page 38... ...
PCR allows selective sequence amplification even in single DNA molecules, permitting convenient, rapid, inexpensive typing of the genetic makeup of any individual at a molecular level. If, then, an appropriate corrected or chemically modified segment of the gene sequence could be inserted into a patient's DNA, a cure for the genetic deficiency would result.
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From page 39... ...
Both the gene therapy and rational drug design approaches are being explored by scientists in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries to find a more effective therapy for this terrible disease. Drug Delivery Systems Certain medicinal agents produce a cytotoxic effect in cancer cells when exposed to a specific wavelength of laser light.
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From page 40... ...
These larger molecuTes can almost never be taken orally and must be injected, but even then are often destroyed in just minutes by the body's metabolic processes. Implantable, degradable plastics permit the drug molecules to be slowly released over days or even years, providing a steady level of the drug in the body.
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From page 41... ...
The information provided by these imaging technologies is now rapidly moving beyond structure to provide measures of biological function. PET can show levels of metabolism in various regions of the brain and determine blood flow through coronary arteries or the heart.
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