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david faure

Howard Walter Florey and Ernst Boris Chain | Chemical Heritage Foundation - 0 views

  • In early January 1941 Florey was ready to test penicillin on humans. The first English patient to whom the drug was administered was a young woman whose cancer was beyond treatment and who had agreed to test penicillin’s toxicity. She showed an alarming reaction—trembling and sharply rising fever. However, Abraham was able to show that impurities in the drug, not the drug itself, had caused the adverse reaction. In February a policeman became the first patient with an infection to be treated with penicillin in the hope of achieving a cure. No one knew the dosages and the length of treatment required to eliminate various bacterial infections; these parameters were being worked out by just such trials—primitive by today’s standards. The policeman’s condition at first improved with the penicillin therapy and then relapsed. The penicillin supply had almost run out, and even retrieving penicillin from the man’s own urine (a commonly used procedure in the early clinical trials) failed to save him. Florey vowed that from then on he would always have enough penicillin to complete a treatment. Increasing production and yields now became of overriding importance. Because Penicillium mold requires air to grow, it was first surface-cultured in regular laboratory flasks. Soon all manner of vessels were being used, including hospital bedpans and hundreds of made-to-order ceramic pots. The operation quickly outgrew the space assigned to the Dunn labs, and neighboring facilities at Oxford were borrowed for the duration. More personnel had to be hired, including six “penicillin girls” who handled the culture pots in the cold room of the extraction plant. Florey had constructed a veritable penicillin factory within the precincts of the ancient university, an institution that had stood proudly aloof from industry for centuries. On the other hand, when Chain urged that a patent be sought on penicillin, as was usual in German research institutes, Florey refused to enter into such a commercial agreement on a discovery he presumed would benefit all mankind—a decision that long rankled Chain. To increase penicillin supplies, Florey approached various British pharmaceutical firms, but only ICI considered itself in a position to accept the challenge (though many later joined the effort). British pharmaceutical firms were already committed to manufacturing other drugs needed for military and civilian populations, or, worse, their facilities had been devastated by enemy bombardment. To obtain the assistance of the United States, then still a noncombatant, in increasing production and furthering research, Florey and Heatley flew across the Atlantic in the beginning of July 1941. Florey’s American connections served him well. The two English emissaries spent the Fourth of July weekend with a friend from his Rhodes year, who put Florey and Heatley in contact with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Northern Regional Research Laboratories (NRRL) in Peoria, Illinois, where large-scale fermentation processes were being actively studied. A. N. Richards, Florey’s old laboratory director at the University of Pennsylvania, had become chair of the Committee on Medical Research in the Office of Scientific Research and Development, which was organized to marshal the strength of the Allies. Because Richards knew Florey’s character, he decided to expedite unified action on penicillin on the basis of just one presentation. At the height of the program, the British-American penicillin effort involved thousands of people and some 35 institutions: university chemistry and physics departments, government agencies, research foundations, and pharmaceutical companies.
    • david faure
       
      Read this account of the early human tests on penicilin. How many examples can you find which would be unethical today?
david faure

Operation Wallacea - 0 views

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    Operation Wallacea is a network of academics from European and North American universities, who design and implement biodiversity and conservation management research programmes. Research is supported by students who join the programme
david faure

Solve Puzzles for Science | Foldit - 0 views

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    Gread games you can play that help research in protein shape
John McMurtry

NYU Researchers Find Electricity in Biological Clock - 0 views

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    A nice article related to rhythmic behaviour
david faure

Research: Research of rotating molecule, ATP synthetase - 0 views

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    brilliant webpage about ATP synthase enzyme. the smallest motor known.
david faure

Chemistry of the cell and genetics - 0 views

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    good explanation of the use of linkage in medical research
david faure

Ensembl Genome Browser - 0 views

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    Excellent gene research tool, gives locations and names of genes in a range of animals
david faure

Our Madiran Cahors Fronton French wines are healthiest for your heart - 0 views

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    interesting research has found a correlation between fronton wine and antioxidants
david faure

Stomach cancer : Cancer Research UK - 0 views

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    Excellent clear explanation of some of the reasons for differences in cancer rates worldwide
John McMurtry

Lipid researcher, 98, reports on the dietary causes of heart disease - 0 views

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    A bit high end chemistry but still good.  A good resource for teachers at least.
david faure

UCLA Undergraduate Research Consortium in Functional Genomics -- sponsored by the Howar... - 0 views

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    Interesting HL ib biology experimental project possibility in genetics
david faure

Study Skills - How to Study - 0 views

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    list of articles from a us website
david faure

Current Biology - 0 views

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    Interesting article on chimps and death
david faure

Fake TV Game Show 'Tortures' Man, Shocks France : NPR - 0 views

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    Interesting - free will and peer pressure
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