Memory Anchor:

• Super Challenge:

  Stretch:

  Challenge:

Key Questions:

1. Where are drugs traditionally extracted from?
   • Traditionally drugs were extracted from plants and microorganisms.
2. Which plant does the heart drug digitalis orginate from?
   • The heart drug digitalis originates from foxgloves.
3. Which plant does the painkiller aspirin orginate from?
   • The painkiller aspirin originates from willow.
4. Who discovered pneicillin and from what?
   • Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming from the Penicillium mould.
5. How are most new drugs synthesised by chemists?
   • Most new drugs are synthesised by chemists in the pharmaceutical industry. However, the starting point may still be a chemical extracted from a plant.
6. Why are new drugs tested and trialled before being used?
   • New medical drugs have to be tested and trialled before being used to check that they are safe and effective.
7. What happens during preclinical testing?
   • Preclinical testing is done in a laboratory using Cells, tissues and live animals.
8. What happens during clinical trials?
   • Clinical trials give the new drug to healthy volunteers and patients and observe the effects
9. What level of dose is used at the start of the clinical trial?
   • During the clinical trial very low doses of the drug are given at the start of the clinical trial.
10. If the new drug is found to be safe during the initial clinical trial what do scientists do to the dosage?
    • If the drug is found to be safe, further clinical trials are carried out to find the optimum dose for the drug.
11. What does a double blind trial mean?
    • In double blind trials, some patients are given a placebo but neither the scientist or the patients know who has the drug and who has the placebo
12. What is the final stage of the drug trial?
    • The final stage of a drug trial is for the drug to scruntised by peer review.
13. What are the stages involved in developing a new drug?
    • The stages involved in developing a drug include preclinical, clinical trials with healthy volunteers and patients, then further trails to establish dosage, final stage is for the findings to be peer reviewed.