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Chemistry in the News May 2000 |
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Title: Genetics Propel New Generation of Cancer Drugs http://www.latimes.com/archives/ This article is about a new drug which is a plausible cure for cancer. "If recent promising results in human testing are confirmed in subsequent trials, the latest in this new generation of drugs for cancer--tailored to the genetic makeup of individual patients' tumors--could reach the market within two years." The patients suffer from a blood cell cancer called chronic myelogenous leukemia, a disease in which too many white blood cells are produced. They have been taking a pill once a day that disrupts a cellular signal to the body to produce an enzyme that makes white blood cells proliferate. In an earlier experiment, 30 of 31 patients taking the drug had returned to a normal white blood cell count within a month of starting treatment. The other patient had a normal white cell count soon after. The promise of the drug has left scientists ebullient. This is part of a shift in focus at the cancer institute, which is devoting about $650 million in grants annually to molecular medicine. It is redirecting its own drug discovery program to one based on identifying new molecular targets. And it has funded four new centers whose mission is to develop databanks of promising compounds to be screened as cancer agents in custom drugs. This article is very exciting because it shines light in an otherwise dark topic. It gives hope and excitement. And it also says how there is a lot of money going into the cancer research. While this article does not directly relate to chemistry (except for the talk of the cancer research), it does demonstrate how important science is to our lives. If we were living way back in 1400s and 1500s, we would be suffering and most likely dying because of the Black Plague. Cancer is similar to the Black Plague because it affects so many people. But now, in the year 2000, we are able to fight against diseases like cancers because of scientific improvements. |
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http://www.sciencenews.org/20000429/fob2.asp At the Experimental Biology 2000 meeting in San Diego, scientists from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville reported their findings from a weight-loss study with mice. Mice that consumed quantities of calcium regularly experienced dramatic weight-loss. This is because, the more calcium they consume, the less amount of their food turned to fat. They reanalyzed data from a similar test they performed on women earlier, and the findings supported each other. The mice used in the experiment were genetically altered to express the agouti gene in their fat cells, which operates in human cells but not normal mouse cells. The gene influences whether a fat cell burns energy or converts it into fat. The mice were placed on a low-calorie diet with calcium supplements. On average, these mice lost forty-two percent of their body fat and nineteen percent of their weight. This article relates to chemistry because calcium, one of the basic elements, was used in the experiment. |
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Los Angeles Times Section-Health P. S5 Monday, May 8 2000 Fortified Salt with Iodine is usually used to prevent mental disabilities but can now be used to also prevent iron deficiency anemia. Nutritional experts have been waiting to do this for a long time but could not find a way (until now) to successfully interact iron with iodine without getting an unusual color and taste. Finally, researchers at the University of Toronto developed a technique to cover the iodine with dextrin, a sugar derivative. This coating prevents the iron and iodine from interacting negatively. Statistics show that Nearly 2 billion people worldwide, including 50% of children younger than age 5 in third world countries, suffer from iron deficiency anemia. This newly found fortified salt will come out within many countries next year. This relates to chemistry because it is about elements such as iron and iodine which have a reaction on our body chemistry and how if successful, may treat anemia for many people. |