All Medicinal chemistry articles – Page 6
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ResourceOn This Day - Dec 24 : Medical use of radioisotope
American physician and phyicist John Lawrence used phosphorus-32 (32P) to treat a 28 year old woman with chronic leukaemia at Berkeley, California. He became the father of nuclear medicine.
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On This Day – Jul 22 : Selman Waksman was born
He coined the term ‘antibiotic’ and discovered streptomycin, the first drug that was effective against tuberculosis. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1952 for this work.
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On This Day - Oct 19 : Samuel Guthrie died
He discovered chloroform (trichloromethane) by distilling chloride of lime (a mixture of calcium hydroxide, chloride and hypochlorite) with alcohol in a copper barrel. He found that this had properties that made it a mild anaesthetic, which he used in amputations.
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On This Day - Oct 15 : First contraceptive pill
The pill was a steroid hormone, norethindrone, developed by Carl Djerassi and co-workers at Syntex in Mexico City. Around 100 million women worldwide now take contraceptive pills, which are approximately 99% effective against pregnancy.
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On This Day - Oct 03 : Charles Pedersen was born
He shared the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the synthesis of crown ethers. These are a group of compounds that can “recognize” each other and choose which other molecules to form complexes, much like the behaviour of molecules found in living organisms.
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On This Day - Oct 01 : Thalidomide was marketed
This notorious drug was marketed as a mild sleeping pill that was safe even for pregnant women. It wasn’t until 1962 that the severe side effects were revealed, where it had caused the development of malformed limbs in babies.
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On This Day - Jan 11 : Thompson trialled insulin
On the verge of death, the 14 year old diabetic agreed to the trial. Insulin was first discovered by Banting, Best and Macleod in 1921, but it was Collip’s work on the purification of insulin that enabled it to be used clinically.
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Soundbite
Vancomycin
Simon Cotton takes a look at those compounds that find themselves in the news or relate to our everyday lives.
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Ruthenium compounds as anticancer agents
New ruthenium-based compounds with fewer and less severe side effects, could replace longstanding platinum-based anticancer drugs
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Radium - a key element in early cancer treatment
An early example of how blue skies research by Pierre and Marie Curie led to the treatment of previously incurable cancers
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Synthetic vaccines
The design of synthetic vaccines offers a more systematic approach to vaccine therapy for many illnesses, including cancer, and even drug addiction
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Solving an infectious problem
Joseph Lister's use of phenol as an antiseptic revolutionised surgical practice in the 19th century. But was he the first to use this antiseptic technique?
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Catalysts for a green industry
Chemists are working to develop new, longer-lasting catalysts to ensure industrial processes are cleaner, greener and more efficient
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The Mole
Kew the celebrations
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, celebrates 250 years of horticulture and science.
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Epilepsy - beyond bromide
An historical journey into the treatment of epilepsy, starting with potassium bromide 150 years ago
