drug testing Flashcards
What are antibiotics?
Substances that kill bacteria or prevent their growth.
Antibiotics are effective against…
bacteria
What is the main reason why we should be careful not to overuse antibiotics?
Dangerous strains of resistant bacteria may develop by natural selection.
What happens to new medical drugs before they are released?
They are tested in the laboratory, and then on volunteers.
Which of these is one reason why drug development is so expensive?
Most of the chemicals developed by drugs companies do not pass all of the tests.
how are they tested
1.The drugs are tested using computer models and human cells grown in the laboratory. Many substances fail this test because they damage cells or do not seem to work.
Drugs that pass the first stage are tested on animals. In the UK, new medicines have to undergo these tests, but it is illegal to test cosmetics and tobacco products on animals. A typical test involves giving a known amount of the substance to the animals, then monitoring them carefully for any side-effects.
Drugs that have passed animal tests are used in clinical trials. They are tested on healthy volunteers to check they are safe. Very low doses of the drug are given to begin with. If there are no problems, further clinical trials are done to find the optimum dose for the drug.
