Group items tagged

This video excerpt from NOVA examines the promise and realities of developing drugs designed to treat genetic disorders. The video presents the story of one patient, Michael McCarrick, whose lungs were devastated from years of suffering from cystic fibrosis. After researchers identified the gene involved in cystic fibrosis, it took decades to find ways to fortify the faulty protein responsible for the serious illness. While two drugs, including one called Kalydeco, offer a small number of patients hope that they will not have to endure a lung transplant, it may be years and several hundred million more development dollars before effective drugs are available for a wider population.

A study in monkeys offers the first evidence that a leading drug developed to fight Ebola works against the strain causing the current outbreak in West Africa. Six animals were infected with a very high dose of the virus and then, three days later, half were given the drug, TKM-Ebola-Makona, which was designed specifically to fight the West African strain. The monkeys that received the drug survived, but all three untreated monkeys died, researchers reported on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

"Designing drugs" sounds trendy, but it accurately describes how some remarkably effective drugs are developed. In this case study we'll follow the steps of drug design, from initial research on the targeted disease, to the drug's use in humans. Gleevec (STI-571) is our example.

This flipped case study tells the story of Joyce, a biology student who notices the development of some unusual symptoms (foot slapping and slurred speech) in her mother. In an effort to understand the cause, Joyce views a documentary-style trigger video (created by the case author) that suggests to Joyce that her mom may in fact have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS. The rest of the case walks Joyce through understanding how normal neurons compare to neurons in ALS patients and how that might affect muscle function. The case explores the link between genes, particularly SOD-1, to the formation of malformed proteins and its potential role in the development of ALS. The case concludes with a discussion of drug development and highlights the timeline and costs associated with drug discovery as Joyce becomes concerned about the lack of drugs in the pipeline for ALS, which her mother is ultimately diagnosed with. The case is appropriate for a number of classes including general biology, biotechnology, anatomy and physiology, upper level-cell biology, or any human health and disease-related course.

Before the discovery of insulin in 1921, being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes was a death sentence. Despite the successful management of diabetes with purified animal insulin, potentially severe side effects were abundant, and alternative ways to produce insulin were needed. This case study guides students through the history of using insulin to treat diabetes, focusing on the development of recombinant DNA technology and the world's first bioengineered drug, recombinant human insulin, which is now used worldwide to treat diabetes. Through the course of this case, students consider the central dogma of molecular biology, the development of recombinant DNA technology, drug design, the importance of recombinant proteins to our society, and the ethical analysis and debates that occur as a result of some scientific discoveries. This case was developed as an introduction to an upper-division biotechnology course focusing on recombinant protein design and production, but could also be used in molecular biology, biochemistry, or introductory biology courses to highlight recombinant DNA and biotechnology.

overview of the effects of different types of drug and alcohol use during pregnancy

The Animal Research Behind the Top 25 most Prescribed Drugs

An exciting new test might help us save antibiotics. Needing only a drop of blood, researchers at Duke have developed a rapid assay that can tell viral infections-which generally can't be treated-from bacterial ones that may benefit from antibiotics. While I don't usually write about drugs or products in development, this test piqued my interest and left me excited about its potential to help contain antibiotic overuse.

In this case study, students will have the opportunity to model the spread of tuberculosis and development of antibiotic resistance in a hypothetical prison environment. After reading a brief handout and viewing a short video, students play a simulation game by first identifying a group of prison inmates represented by index cards. The placement of the cards will influence how drug resistance spreads from one inmate to another. Using a dice roll to mimic random probability of infection and antibiotic misuse, students then track the development of resistance to four specific antibiotics, determined by selection of playing card suit. Opportunity for release or transfer on inmates from one facility to another introduces a further level of complexity, allowing students to study resistance spread. This activity was originally designed for a section of an upper-division biology course about antibiotic resistance, but it would also be appropriate for lower-division undergraduate and high school biology courses discussing antibiotic use.

Some tiny clusters of brain cells grown in a lab dish are making big news at this week's Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego. Known as "minibrains," these rudimentary networks of cells are small enough to fit on the head of a pin, but already are providing researchers with insights into everything from early brain development to Down syndrome, Alzheimer's and Zika.

An elderly woman living independently with some help from her family is brought to the local emergency room because she is confused and vomiting. While her son suspects a stroke, a quick battery of laboratory tests indicates that her current problems are the result of impaired kidney function, an old-fashioned home remedy for ulcers, and her prescribed blood pressure medication. The combination of patient- and drug-related factors produces an acid-base disorder responsible for her confusion. This disorder further disrupts her kidney function. The case illustrates secretion and reabsorption processes in the kidney tubule which regulate plasma and urinary electrolytes (including calcium) and pH. The role of bicarbonate in maintaining systemic pH is emphasized. Interactions among the renal, respiratory and nervous systems in the regulation of systemic pH are also illustrated. Further, basic principles of pharmacotherapy and issues related to the appropriate use of medications are introduced. The case was developed for use in a physiology or human anatomy and physiology course, but it might be used in undergraduate nursing courses as well (e.g., pharmacology, pathophysiology).

This case study presents the story of "Nick," a student who has been assigned the task of writing a research paper describing the fundamentals of chemical bonds and how they relate to human life. When Nick experiences difficulty remembering information about the different types of chemical bonds, he turns to his tutor, Josh, for help. Josh explains orbitals and valence electrons to Nick, and then they together review nonpolar and polar covalent bonds, ionic bonds, and hydrogen bonds. A final practical application exercise requires that students write about how different types of chemical bonds may relate to the development of Alzheimer's disease and to the mechanism of action of potential drug treatments.  The case is presented with PowerPoint slides and is designed to be used with a personal response system ("clickers"), but students can instead record their answers on paper or share them verbally.  The content is appropriate for use in high school and undergraduate introductory chemistry and biology courses.

Cancer cells are hungry. To feed their rapid growth and division, their metabolism changes. Moreover, they use sugar (glucose) in a different way to normal cells. This animation, created by Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, explores the key aspects of the altered metabolism in cancer cells and explains how these can be exploited for the development of new anticancer strategies.

The purpose of this case is to teach introductory college biology students the basic process of mitosis, focusing on the fundamental cellular processes that occur during each of the stages-prophase, prometaphase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase and cytokinesis. It would also be appropriate for AP Biology students. The case is framed around solving a murder. The murder plot involves a naturally-occurring poison derived from Yew trees, known as paclitaxel. Paclitaxel is a mitotic inhibitor that works by inhibiting the depolymerization of microtubules so that the cell is arrested in metaphase. At the end of the case, students will be able to describe the basic process of mitosis, including the fundamental processes that occur in each stage. The discovery of paclitaxel led to the development of the chemotherapeutic drug, Taxol ®, and the case concludes by having students think about the correlations between poisons and chemotherapies. The case involves the use of videos, one of which was made by the author for this case, and can be used in a flipped classroom.

The video explains how Clinical Pharmacology can help to deliver the right dose for every patient by combining clinical trials data and modeling & simulation approaches during drug development.

The video explains Entry Into Humans ( or First in Man studies) and why it's important for drug development. More videos from Roche on http://www.youtube.com/user/roche

We all know Sally: She is our daughter, our sister, our friend -- her health in the balance. In that moment, we're all looking for a solution, some hope. This 60-second spot begins and ends in Sally's hospital room. It takes us back in time to see the many people who contributed to the discovery, development, and approval of lifesaving medicine. Directed by Steve Dorst.

In this case study, we'll follow the process of developing an edible vaccine for the hepatitis B virus and explore practical details of genetic engineering techniques. 

But this tiny sample turned out to hold tremendous scientific value. It was from a person fortunate to survive the deadly Ebola virus outbreak of 2014. Walker and her colleagues wanted to know if they could identify some special antibodies in that person's blood. If this person had special Ebola-neutralizing antibodies, that might help explain why that person lived. The antibodies might also help provide a template for future development of a vaccine. Or, they could be the basis for genetically engineered copies that could be manufactured at large scale, stockpiled and used to rescue people newly infected in an outbreak.

Scientists may debate the accuracy of this equivalency, but most people agree that humans live many times longer than their furry friends. And, as it happens, these friends have features that uniquely qualify them to help us speed biomedical research.