Essays --

The Ethics of Drug Design and Testing Victor Arce Arizona State University â€Æ' Drug Design, Testing, and Marketing The discovery of a lead pharmacophore and its subsequent testing in animals and humans has only recently taken shape thanks to the advancement in the fields of pharmacology, physiology, chemistry, and biology. Within the last 40 years, the near-linear advancement of computing power has allowed for the imaging of enzyme structures and therefore led to the ab initio calculations of structure shape and size in drug development. The recent scientific interest in biomimicry has created a new field for lead drug synthesis and treatment. The field of pharmacology is being bombarded with possible drug targets so why has the influx of drugs into the market remained relatively slow compared to all of the possible leads? The answer to that question has to do with the process by which a drug must be tested and approved before hitting markets. The process by which a treatment or a drug is studied is scientific. Figure 1- A flowchart demonstrating the process by which a drug must undergo before being marketed and regulated to the public. Figure 1 shows the process by which a drug is developed. The basis of therapies lies in the chemical, physiological understanding of disease. The study begins with a question. The question or hypothesis is based on the understanding of the human body and it’s function. The hypothesis must then be tested using reproducible methods. The compound in question is tested in vitro using a line of cells that are most relevant to the target site that the researchers are studying. For example, if you are researching a drug that could possibly target lymphomas, you would use a cell line that ... ...standard for human research ethics. The document is not legally binding to any country or entity but instead serves as a moral standard for all scientists and physicians as well as countries who want to use it as a guideline for legislation on human research in their own jurisdiction. Conducting Ethical Animal Research As seen in the first part of this paper, the use of animals in the advancement of medical knowledge can be traced back to the Romans. Galen may be one of the first historically significant scientists who used animals to further the knowledge of medicine. His vivisections led to a greater understanding of the healing process, the cardiovascular system, and digestion among other topics. By today’s standards, the vivisections that Galen carried out are seen as unethical and barbaric. The unnecessary level of pain inflicted on the animal would today be Essays -- The Ethics of Drug Design and Testing Victor Arce Arizona State University â€Æ' Drug Design, Testing, and Marketing The discovery of a lead pharmacophore and its subsequent testing in animals and humans has only recently taken shape thanks to the advancement in the fields of pharmacology, physiology, chemistry, and biology. Within the last 40 years, the near-linear advancement of computing power has allowed for the imaging of enzyme structures and therefore led to the ab initio calculations of structure shape and size in drug development. The recent scientific interest in biomimicry has created a new field for lead drug synthesis and treatment. The field of pharmacology is being bombarded with possible drug targets so why has the influx of drugs into the market remained relatively slow compared to all of the possible leads? The answer to that question has to do with the process by which a drug must be tested and approved before hitting markets. The process by which a treatment or a drug is studied is scientific. Figure 1- A flowchart demonstrating the process by which a drug must undergo before being marketed and regulated to the public. Figure 1 shows the process by which a drug is developed. The basis of therapies lies in the chemical, physiological understanding of disease. The study begins with a question. The question or hypothesis is based on the understanding of the human body and it’s function. The hypothesis must then be tested using reproducible methods. The compound in question is tested in vitro using a line of cells that are most relevant to the target site that the researchers are studying. For example, if you are researching a drug that could possibly target lymphomas, you would use a cell line that ... ...standard for human research ethics. The document is not legally binding to any country or entity but instead serves as a moral standard for all scientists and physicians as well as countries who want to use it as a guideline for legislation on human research in their own jurisdiction. Conducting Ethical Animal Research As seen in the first part of this paper, the use of animals in the advancement of medical knowledge can be traced back to the Romans. Galen may be one of the first historically significant scientists who used animals to further the knowledge of medicine. His vivisections led to a greater understanding of the healing process, the cardiovascular system, and digestion among other topics. By today’s standards, the vivisections that Galen carried out are seen as unethical and barbaric. The unnecessary level of pain inflicted on the animal would today be