Introduction to Paclitaxel | From Tree to Taxol | Paclitaxel and Cancer Treatment | Inside Paclitaxel: Physical Characteristics | Paclitaxel: Effective or Too Costly? | Paclitaxel’s Affect on History | History’s Affect on Paclitaxel | References
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acliatxel, developed initially from the Taxus brevifolia or Pacific yew tree in 1967, underwent many stages of development prior to reaching the level it is used today. Arthur S. Barclay’s work in collecting and discovering the taxol molecule from the bark of the yew tree on the Pacific coast of Washington set in motion many stages of synthesis and debate over the molecule.
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Introduction to Paclitaxel | From Tree to Taxol | Paclitaxel and Cancer Treatment | Inside Paclitaxel: Physical Characteristics | Paclitaxel: Effective or Too Costly? | Paclitaxel’s Affect on History | History’s Affect on Paclitaxel | References
Paclitaxel, a derivative of the pacific yew tree Taxus brevifolia, is a remarkably effective but controversial cancer treatmenting drug. The history associated with paclitaxel is one of a tremendous battle between three groups: environmentalists, who lobby for an alternate way of creating the drug; scientists, who feel the drug is particuarily effective on breast and ovarian cancers; and congressmen, who juggle the two sides in a perpetual game of ethics. Removing paclitaxel from external politics and ethics, the drug is effective because it is a mitotic inhibitor, that stops the growth of the cancer cell through hyper-stabilization of the cell. The paclitaxel injection strongly affects rapidly reproducing cancer cells because the drug is particuarily effective at disrupting the cell division in both the cytoskeleton of the cell and by docking at the specific protein responsible for cell building. Paclitaxel’s effectiveness, though controversial in its development, is key to the history of cancer treatment over the past 50 years and is a drug of remarkable dimensions, both histroically and biochemically.
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Introduction| Irish Luck|A Brief History of Penicillin|
Penicillin and Bacteria| Penicillin Affects History: Thanks to Penicillin, He will Come Home!!|
History Affects Penicillin:|References|
Florey, H.W. Chain, E. (1949). Antibiotics: A Survey of Penicillin, Streptomycin, And Other Antimicrobial Substances From Fungi, Actinomycetes, Bacteria, and Plants. London: Oxford University Press.
Friedman, Mayer. (1998). Medicine’s 10 Greatest Discoveries. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Hare, R. (1970). The Birth of Penicillin and Disarming of Microbes.London: George Allen and Unwin.
Klein, J.O. (1994). Otitis externa, otitis media, mastoiditis. In G.L. Mandell, J.E. Bennett, and R. Dolin 9eds). Mandell, Douglas and Bennett’s Principles and Practices of Infectious Diseases. New York: Churchill Livengstone.
Le Couteur P. & Burreson J. (2003). Napoleon’s Buttons. 17 Molecules that Changed History. New York: Penguin.
McGowan, J.E.J. (1983). Antimicrobial Resistance in Hospital Organisms and its Relation to Antibiotic Use. Reviews of Infectious Diseases 5 (6): 1033-1048.
Schlessinger, D. (1993). Biological Basis for Antibacterial action. Mechanisms of Microbial Disease, 230, 77, 95.
Tyndall, J. (1876). The Optical Deportment of the Atmosphere in Relation to the Phenomena of Putrefaction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 166, 20-55.
U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment. (1995). Impacts of Antibiotic- Resistant Bacteria. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Wilson, D. (1976). In Search of Penicillin. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
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acliatxel, developed initially from the Taxus brevifolia or Pacific yew tree in 1967, underwent many stages of development prior to reaching the level it is used today. Arthur S. Barclay’s work in collecting and discovering the taxol molecule from the bark of the yew tree on the Pacific coast of Washington set in motion many stages of synthesis and debate over the molecule.