Drug Development and Monoclonal Antibodies Year 9

Question 1

What were drugs traditionally extracted from?

Answer 1

Plants and microorganisms

Question 2

Why do plants produce chemicals?

Answer 2

Predator protection, rid microorganisms that can cause disease, attract organisms for pollution

Question 3

What is menthol?

Answer 3

Mint-produced drug, toxic to many microbes and insects

Question 4

What is allicin?

Answer 4

Garlic-produced drug, interferes with lipid synthesis

Question 5

What is aspirin?

Answer 5

Painkiller derived from willow

Question 6

What is digitalis?

Answer 6

Heart drug produced by foxgloves

Question 7

How are the majority of new drugs synthesised?

Answer 7

They are synthesised by chemists in pharmaceutical industry

Question 8

What must happen to new medical drugs before they are used?

Answer 8

They must be extensively trialled and tested

Question 9

What are they tested for?

Answer 9

Toxicity, efficacy and dosage

Question 10

What is toxicity?

Answer 10

If substance is poisonous

Question 11

What is efficacy?

Answer 11

Drug’s ability to cure condition or relieve symptoms

Question 12

What is dosage?

Answer 12

Most effective drug amount needed to cure condition

Question 13

What are the 3 main stages of testing?

Answer 13

Preclinical drug trials, Animal trials, Human clinical trials

Question 14

What is a preclinical drug trial?

Answer 14

Drugs tested in lab by computer models and grown human cells

Question 15

What is an animal trial?

Answer 15

Drugs tested on animals, known amount given then animal is monitored

Question 16

What is a human clinical trial?

Answer 16

Drug tested on health volunteers, dosage built up, then ill are tested

Question 17

Why are healthy volunteers selected first in human clinical trials?

Answer 17

Side effects could sick more harm, medicine of the sick could interact with drug, if treatment doesn’t work it would be unfair to use sick people

Question 18

What are double blind trials?

Answer 18

Part of human clinical trials, doctors give patients placebos at random

Question 19

What is a placebo?

Answer 19

Substance resembling drug but has no side effects, only made up of sugar

Question 20

What is the placebo effect?

Answer 20

Patient has placebo but thinks it is drug and expects it to work, so reports feeling well despite not actually feeling well

Question 21

Why do double blind trials happen?

Answer 21

To avoid bias from doctors, placebo effect and psychological effects on doctors

Question 22

What is a peer review?

Answer 22

Before drug’s published, other scientists check trial’s results to prevent false claims and bias

Question 23

What are monoclonal antibodies?

Answer 23

Antibodies produced from single clone of cells, are specific to one binding site on one protein or antigen

Question 24

What produces monoclonal antibodies?

Answer 24

Stimulation of mouse lymphocytes

Question 25

What is a hybridoma cell?

Answer 25

Cell created when lymphocytes combine with particular tumour cell type, can either make or divide antibodies

Question 26

What can be done to single hybridoma cells?

Answer 26

They can be cloned to form many identical cells

Question 27

What are the uses of monoclonal antibodies?

Answer 27

Diagnosis, molecule research, measure levels of chemical/detect pathogens in blood, treat diseases

Question 28

Name an examples of monoclonal antibodies used for diagnosis

Answer 28

In pregnancy tests, monoclonal antibody binds to the HCG hormone found in urine during early pregnancy

Question 29

How are monoclonal antibodies used in molecule research?

Answer 29

They are bound to fluorescent dye, which makes problem more visible to doctor

Question 30

Name a chemical that monoclonal antibodies are used to detect in the blood?

Answer 30

Hormones

Question 31

Name a disease treated by monoclonal antibiotics and how it is treated

Answer 31

Cancer, the antibody binds to a radioactive substance, toxic drug or chemical that stops growth of cancer cell without affecting healthy cells

Question 32

Do monoclonal antibodies have side effects?

Answer 32

Yes, and more than first expected