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The pharmaceutical industry spends untold millions of dollars trying to discover the next wonder drug. The potential profits from a breakthrough drug can be counted in the billions of dollars — and a great new medication can improve the lives of countless people. More »
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It seems like every other billboard and commercial in the U.S. is for a prescription drug. And yet consumers can't buy them without a doctor's approval. So why target consumers with these ads? Do we really have that much influence over physicians? Here's how the U.S. became one of the only countries in the world where pharmaceutical companies peddle drugs to ordinary people. More »
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Scientists have been tinkering with memory-altering drugs for years, discovering substances that can make you forget that you crave cocaine, and change the emotional weight of traumatic memories as you recall them. But the prospect of swallowing a pill that erases your past has troubling implications. Many ethicists say we simply shouldn't develop these substances at all. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5831588&view=rss&microfeed=true Yesterday the Guardian ran an intriguing article by Amelia Hill about the rise of drugs that could enhance our moral sensibilities. And by "moral," what is generally meant is non-violent and empathetic to strangers, as well as future generations. Here's a chunk of interesting observations from it: More »
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When it comes to sexual satisfaction, believing that you're fulfilled can be the fastest route to real fulfillment. That's the lesson scientists learned when they gave women a "sexual enhancement" placebo - and found that it actually increased sexual satisfaction. More »
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A new report on the pharmaceutical industry has just been published by a European consortium, and it provides - among other data - proof that the U.S. is a breeding ground for synthetic mutants and weird new drugs. More »
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When every crop has to be licensed from patent owners like Monsanto, only those practiced in the art of pirate agriculture will have reasonably-priced food. This gorgeous series of photographs from Mendocino's pot harvest might be a glimpse of that future. More »
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Imagine if you could look at something once and remember it forever. You would never have to ask for directions again. Now a group of scientists has isolated a protein that mega-boosts your ability to remember what you see. More »
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Soon you may be able to buy a drug that can make you calm by mimicking the body's natural self-soothing process. But you wouldn't feel drugged. What would happen to people who suddenly became fearless without side-effects? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5293271&view=rss&microfeed=true On Friday, the US Food and Drug Adminstration stopped dragging its feet and acknowledged that tomorrow's drugs are just as likely to be made in the bosoms of goats as they are to come out of a laboratory. The latest craze among drug makers is "pharming," or the practice of creating special, genetically-engineered animals that literally exude drugs. In the case of the drug approved on Friday, ATryn, this means creating GMO goats that manufacture a crucial protein for use in the drug. These goats are the first "pharm animals" that have been approved for drug manufacture in America, though they have been used in Europe for at least two years. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5149922&view=rss&microfeed=true In one of those weird moments in corporate science, pharma mega-corp GlaxoSmithKline has funded a Swedish study that looked into the genetic underpinnings of susceptibility to placebos. Turns out that certain people are more easily cured by fake sugar pills (placebos) than others. Is Glaxo trying to figure out which people it needs to eliminate in order to ensure a population entirely dependent on drugs for their cures? [via ScienceNow] More »
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Many economic crisis periods in the U.S. have spawned drug epidemics. During the late-nineteenth century "long depression" or "crisis," the use of opium reached epidemic proportions, and a few decades later the innovation of intravenous injection made heroin the drug of choice among 1930s Depression-era junkies. Heroin made a comeback during the 1973 Oil Crisis, while cocaine and crack use spiked directly after the early 1980s Recession. Meth was the drug of choice during the early 1990s recession, and we're sure to get another dose as the Neo-Depression of the early twenty-first century marches on. We've got some ideas about what drug it might be — and you can offer your opinion in our poll below. More »
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You've probably heard that all the antibiotics we take are breeding new generations of drug-resistant bacteria. In fact, many diseases we once killed easily with Penicillin now require mega-doses of super-antibiotics like Cipro. While researchers have known for a long time that bacteria are developing resistance to drugs, they weren't sure how the tiny organisms did it. Now a research team at the University of Illinois has figured it out — and that means we're like to see new, smarter antibiotics (you can see the chemical structure of one such antibiotic, Erythromycin, at left). More »
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Today, the results are in for a survey conducted by the scientific journal Nature on "enhancement" drug use among its readers. Turns out 1 in 5 of the 1400 respondents have taken drugs to enhance their performance (i.e., recreationally) rather than to cure a problem. The most popular of these drugs was speedy Ritalin: 62 percent of respondents had used it. It was followed closely by concentration-focusing Provigil (44 percent) and anxiety-reducing beta blockers (15 percent). These scientist drug users were of all ages — in this chart, you can see that drug use for "enhancement" is just as popular among the kids as it is among the seniors. More »
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Although thousands of women take estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) to avoid the unpleasantness of menopause, study after study has shown that ERT may shorten life. But today researchers announced results from a study of testosterone therapy that suggested the substance known as T may become a crucial ingredient in post-menopausal drug cocktails of the future. More »
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Provigil (AKA modafinil) has been called a wonder drug: it can keep you awake and alert for hours without side-effects, and it's even recommended as "the professor's little helper" by neuroscience researchers writing in the prestigious journal Nature. Provigil, approved by the US food and drug administration for the treatment of narcolepsy, is often prescribed "off label" for ailments like severe jet lag, ADHD, and even problems with sleep cycles. But this drug, which is supposed to be a non-addictive stimulant because it doesn't get you high, turns out to be potentially as euphoria-inducing and addictive as cocaine. More »
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It's one of the coolest science detective stories in recent memory. The ingredients of this tale include 240,000 blisterpacks of fake malaria drugs, a tiny amount of flower pollen, and forensic palynology. A gang selling fake malaria drugs all across Asia had made millions (killing lots of people in the process), and covered their tracks quite efficiently. But there was one thing they hadn't bargained for. The air around their pill-fabrication plant had left an indelible mark on their products. More »
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Will soldiers of the future be given serotonin depressors to make them depressed and therefore fearless? A new study released Friday shows that people with a low level of serotonin do not "reflexively avoid" bad situations, and are more likely to explore risky and dangerous places. This is a sorry state in everyday life, but might be desirable if you're a soldier and need to venture into spots most people would steer clear of. It's very possible the next "super soldier" drug won't give you superstrength, but just a megadose of depression. More »
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Hormones are the new recreational drugs, helping you maintain that zippy youthful feeling even into your 60s and letting you grow cool secondary sex characteristics your own hormones won't. For those reasons, estrogen is one of the hottest black market hormones. Menopausal women and transsexuals denied estrogen therapy by doctors are buying it from shady operators who make roll-your-own mixes of the hormone and don't warn about the side-effects of estrogen supplements (such as blood clots, stroke, and migraines). Now the FDA is pushing pharmacies to stop carrying the drugs, often called "bioidentical hormone replacement therapy," and trying to prevent Web sites from selling them. [PhysOrg] More »
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Several new products that hover between being cosmetics and pharmeceuticals promise to make aging skin look young again. And apparently there's medical proof that they work. The main signs of aging skin are an uneven surface, wrinkles, and discoloration. Now a North Carolina dermatologist says each of these symptoms can be treated with simple, topical "cosmeceuticals." We can't grow skin in a vat for you, but we can rejuvenate what you've got. More »
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Indonesia is refusing to hand over its flu viruses to Western researchers, and that means flu vaccines this year may be less effective. Flu shots are basically created on a gamble that that popular Asian virus strains will come West by winter flu season. Epidemiologists study Asian viruses, predict which strains will come West, and make shots that immunize against them. But Indonesians are getting pissed off about a lousy tradeoff where they hand over virus samples from flu that killed a bunch of their people, and then get nothing in return. That's why Indonesia and other developing nations have stopped letting researchers take flu samples unless vaccine manufacturers meet their demands. More »
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