1. Drug Testing GRADE C Describe the main steps in testing a new drug.
Explain the terms placebo and double-blind trial.

2. Scientists have developed a new medicine what features would be important?
Effective – it must prevent or cure a disease or at least make you feel better.
Safe – the drug must not be too toxic (poisonous) or have unacceptable side effects for the patient.
Stable – you must be able to use the medicine under normal conditions and store it for some time.
4. Successfully taken into and removed from your body – it must reach its target and be cleared from your system once it has done its work.

3. Why is it important to test new drugs before they are released for general use?

4. Thalidomide
If these tests are not thorough then a new medicine may have dangerous side effects Thalidomide is a medicine that was widely used in 1950s as a sleeping pill. It also helped to prevent ‘morning sickness’ in pregnant women. It was not tested thoroughly enough before been marketed, women started to give birth to babies with severe limb abnormalities. It is no longer used for pregnant women but it is effective in treating leprosy

5. What kind of drugs are we looking at developing
What kind of drugs are we looking at developing? What is the leading cause of deaths between yr olds in the UK?

6. Cancer is the biggest premature killer
4 in every 10 people between ages are killed by cancer before they reach their life expectancy.

7. How much do you think it costs pharmaceutical companies annually to test each new drug?

8. The annual cost for clinical trial for each drug is £600 million PER DRUG
Drugs are first tested in lab using cells, tissues and living animals.
Tested in clinical trials using healthy volunteers & patients. Initially small doses of the drug are used.
If no side effects are seen further trials are used to find the optimum dose for the drug.

9. Answer these questions!
What is a placebo?
This is sometimes given to the control group. It looks exactly like the real treatment but has no drug in it
What is a double blind trial?
Neither the patient of the doctor know whether the patient is in the control group or not
How do they maintain a fair test during a clinical drug trial?

11. Animals of each type used in research in 2005
Total number of
animals used =
2.89 million
Mice are currently the most closely related laboratory animal species to humans for which the knockout technique can easily be applied
Other mammals includes:
Monkeys 4652
Dogs
Sheep ,329
Cats
WHY MICE?

12. Genetic engineering to test for obesity gene
Leptin, the Appetite Hormone, Rewires the Brain
Mice without the leptin gene are morbidly obese (left) compared to normal mice (right).
Leptin promotes the growth of mouse neurons. Images show growth patterns without leptin (top) and with leptin.
How do you fell about animal testing? Try to give positives and negatives.