Thalidomide achieved notoriety 50 years ago because of a wave of birth defects among children born to women who took this drug during pregnancy as a treatment for morning sickness. Thalidomide is a mixture of two enantiomers; one reduces morning sickness, but the other causes severe birth defects. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration withheld approval of thalidomide in 1960. Since then, however, the FDA has approved this drug for the treatment of conditions associated with leprosy and newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, a blood and bone marrow cancer. Assuming that molecules related to thalidomide could be synthesized in the laboratory, describe in a broad way the type of experiments you would do to improve the benefits of this drug and minimize its harmful effects.
Thalidomide achieved notoriety 50 years ago because of a wave of birth defects among children born to women who took this drug during pregnancy as a treatment for morning sickness. Thalidomide is a mixture of two enantiomers; one reduces morning sickness, but the other causes severe birth defects. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration withheld approval of thalidomide in 1960. Since then, however, the FDA has approved this drug for the treatment of conditions associated with leprosy and newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, a blood and bone marrow cancer. Assuming that molecules related to thalidomide could be synthesized in the laboratory, describe in a broad way the type of experiments you would do to improve the benefits of this drug and minimize its harmful effects.
