Biotech Flashcards
Did the number of women doctorates awarded annually increase between 1920 and 1970?
No
What are five characteristics of technoscience?
-Large teams of collaborators from several disciplines (administrators accountants, scientists,
-Goal oriented
-Cross-institutional collaboration
-International collaboration due to specialized resources and knowledge-base
-cutting edge technology and science
What would be humanity’s oldest technological system?
Biotechnology in the form of agriculture
What were the environmental consequences of early human agriculture?
May have forestalled a new ice age
Genetic engineering is a new tool which does similar things as…?
Selective breeding
Did women generally. make it in the technological and scientific professions?
Not really
How did the Geodimeter Model 6 include women in the advertising?
The selling point was that the product was designed so that even women could use it. you could then pick your assistant for their looks
What was the state of late 19th century biotechnology?
Development of vaccines, elucidation of diseases and parasitic relationships, isolation of some biologically active substances and the definition of the laws of genetics by Mendel
How did the improvement of public health alter the role of women?
It freed them from duties of home care
What was the state of biotechnology by the second half of the 20th century?
Genetic code was decoded and new classes of drugs were discovered
The success of penicillin did what for drugs?
Raised hopes of drugs that would be magic bullets capable of vanquishing disease without fail
The FDA had how many professionals employed in 1958?
Three full-time physicians and four part-time doctors finishing their residency training
How many new drug applications and supplemental applications did the FDA have to process on average per year between 1957 and 1962?
400 new drug applications and 3,000 supplemental applications
In 2008, what percentage of pregnancies worldwide were unintended?
41 percent
When were oral contraceptives first introduced?
1950s
What was the original “the pill” marketed for? when?
As a treatment for gynaecological disorders. 1957
How has the pill been modified since its original?
By reducing the content of progestin to 1/10 estrogen to 1/3-1/6
What is a thrombose?
A blood clot
What was the side effect of the pill?
Increased the risk of blood clots
When were the first cases of fatal thromboses from the pill?
1960
When were thromboses from the pill confirmed? from what?
1967 by a British epidemiological study
What disaster forced drug safety legislation in the US?
The thalidomide disaster (1961-1962)
Thalidomide was marketed for what?
To alleviate morning sickness
What did thalidomide cause in kids?
birth defects and miscarriages
When was Diethylstilbestrol identified?
1938
What is Diethylstilbestrol?
A powerful synthetic estrogen
What is the precautionary principle?
If insufficient evidence exists for a drug being safe, it should not be allowed.
Why did the FDA initially reject DES in 1938?
Animal studies suggested that DES increased the likelihood of certain cancers, congenital deformities, and miscarriages,
What is astroturfing?
making something seem like a grassroots movement
Why did the FDA approve DES?
-A healthy amount of lobbying and astroturfing
-FDA was small and under resourced
What was DES used for?
Treating symptoms of menopause
What did DES manufacturers argue about the tests informing DES’s rejection?
They were conducted on animals and so they were unreliable
What did the FDA condition the approval of DES on?
That a list of warnings of side effects be available on request
When was the oral contraceptive pill approved for contraceptive use?
1960
What was the effect of the DES episode on the FDA?
It became far more timid in attempting to limit drugs or flag their dangers
Were side effects of the pill noted in company trials?
Yes
What condition did the FDA apply to the pill contraceptive in 1960?
No more than two years continual use
Why was the Pill approved for contraception?
The known side effects seemed less significant than the known risks of pregnancy and childbirth. In fact, many effects mimicked symptoms of early pregnancy
How large were the trials for the pill in the 50s
anywhere between 20-80 patients. That is really not a lot
How many people had used the pill without serious consequences by 1959?
100-500k