Quest for the Cure: The Science and Stories Behind the Next Generation of Medicines [Kindle Edition]
Author: Brent Stockwell | Language: English | ISBN: B004ZGROYK | Format: PDF, EPUB
Quest for the Cure: The Science and Stories Behind the Next Generation of Medicines
Free download Quest for the Cure: The Science and Stories Behind the Next Generation of Medicines from with Mediafire Link Download Link
Free download Quest for the Cure: The Science and Stories Behind the Next Generation of Medicines from with Mediafire Link Download Link
After more than fifty years of blockbuster drug development, skeptics are beginning to fear we may be reaching the end of drug discovery to combat major diseases. In this engaging book, Brent Stockwell, a leading researcher in the exciting new science of chemical biology, describes this dilemma and the powerful techniques that may bring drug research into the twenty-first century.
Filled with absorbing stories of breakthroughs, the book begins with the scientific achievements of the twentieth century that led to today's drug innovations. We learn how the invention of mustard gas in World War led to early anti-cancer agents and how the efforts to decode the human genome might lead to new approaches in drug design. Stockwell then turns to the seemingly incurable diseases we face today, such as Alzheimer's, many cancers, and others with no truly effective medicines, and describes cellular and molecular barriers thwarting scientists who use tools from traditional pharmaceutical research.
Scientists such as Stockwell are now developing methods to combat these complexities—technologies for constructing and testing millions of drug candidates, sophisticated computational modeling, and entirely new classes of drug molecules—all with an eye toward solving the most profound mysteries of living systems and finding cures for intractable diseases. If successful, these methods will unlock a vast terrain of untapped drug targets that could lead to a bounty of breakthrough medicines. Offering a rare, behind-the-scenes look at this cutting-edge research, The Quest for the Cure tells a thrilling story of science, persistence, and the quest underway to develop a new generation of cures.
Download latest books on mediafire and other links compilation Quest for the Cure: The Science and Stories Behind the Next Generation of Medicines [Kindle Edition] Filled with absorbing stories of breakthroughs, the book begins with the scientific achievements of the twentieth century that led to today's drug innovations. We learn how the invention of mustard gas in World War led to early anti-cancer agents and how the efforts to decode the human genome might lead to new approaches in drug design. Stockwell then turns to the seemingly incurable diseases we face today, such as Alzheimer's, many cancers, and others with no truly effective medicines, and describes cellular and molecular barriers thwarting scientists who use tools from traditional pharmaceutical research.
Scientists such as Stockwell are now developing methods to combat these complexities—technologies for constructing and testing millions of drug candidates, sophisticated computational modeling, and entirely new classes of drug molecules—all with an eye toward solving the most profound mysteries of living systems and finding cures for intractable diseases. If successful, these methods will unlock a vast terrain of untapped drug targets that could lead to a bounty of breakthrough medicines. Offering a rare, behind-the-scenes look at this cutting-edge research, The Quest for the Cure tells a thrilling story of science, persistence, and the quest underway to develop a new generation of cures.
- File Size: 811 KB
- Print Length: 290 pages
- Publisher: Columbia University Press; 1 edition (May 3, 2011)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B004ZGROYK
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,726 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #13 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Chemical
- #16 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Biochemistry
- #16 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Biological Sciences > Biochemistry
Drawing heavily from his research & academic backgrounds, Stockwell provides an informative account on drug discovery challenges and ongoing/potential approaches to address them. For a reader with medical background, this is an excellent read while a general reader will struggle with the details. (3.5*)
(Review adapted from my blog; free advance copy provided by the publisher)
At the very outset, Stockwell provides a succinct explanation of why drug discovery is far more challenging than what one may imagine - by focusing on the actual mechanics of "small drug molecules" and proteins involved in disease progression. (A reader can easily grasp this complexity when Stockwell highlights that only 2% of the proteins are now considered "druggable" and the generally risk-averse scientists typically tend to focus only on this minority due to commercial considerations.) The discussion on how drugs actually work may be of interest to the average reader. He then describes (with various examples) various drug discovery mechanisms and a history of cancer drugs. The role of luck in discoveries, of course, is well known...but through these discussions, one gets to appreciate not only the role of luck but also of perseverance and a systematic approach to design experiments. A subsequent chapter on the author's entrepreneurial experience provides some insights on the potential of studying combinations of approved drugs - but the narration is too focused on the company history, a reader is likely to be distracted.
The second part starts with an introduction to promising emerging techniques of drug discovery including structure-based designs, virtual screening, and fragment-based screening.
Modern medicine has immensely improved and in many cases dramatically changed our lives. Many diseases that have until relatively recently been considered incurable have been tackled and overcome. Mapping of the entire human genome at the beginning of the twenty-first century, as well as many novel techniques for developing and testing of the new drugs, have all contributed to the sense that even greater medical breakthroughs are just around the corner. However, this promise has remained not much more than hype. In fact, truly new medicinal drugs are becoming more and more rare, and the time between their development and when they hit the market is ever increasing.
This book aims to give the reader an idea what are drugs from a molecular point of view, and how they affect our bodies. Drugs are relatively small molecules that bind to specific cell proteins and change their function. Coming up with the right kind of small molecule that would do the job is immensely difficult. There is an innumerable amount of potential drug candidates, and choosing the right ones is as much of an art as it is science. Even so, there is a very real possibility that the vast majority of proteins might be "undruggable," i.e. there are no small molecules that would bind to them. The book explores these possibility in some detail, and it offers possible alternative approaches to drugs that could go around the current impediments.
The book is a great mixture of science, medical technology, and business. It provides invaluable insights into the development of new drugs, and the limitations of the current approaches. It also introduces the reader to the world of medical research startups, and the way that these small companies are redefining the drug discovery business.
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