Drugs and Monoclonal antibodies

Question 1

Were are most drugs made today?

Answer 1

Most drugs are made in a lab

Question 2

What must a drug undergo before it can be rolled out to the public?

Answer 2

A drug must undergo clinical tests.

Question 3

What three things do tests check for in drugs?

Answer 3

Toxicity, efficacy, dosage.

Question 4

What is toxicity?

Answer 4

How dangerous a drug isw

Question 5

What is efficacy?

Answer 5

How useful the drug is at providing the desired outcome

Question 6

What is dosage?

Answer 6

How much of the drug do you need to give to get the desired outcome.

Question 7

What are two examples of drugs?

Answer 7

Aspirin, Digitalis, Paracetomol, Ibuprofen

Question 8

What are types of drugs?

Answer 8

Recreational, medicinal,

Question 9

What is a drug?

Answer 9

A substance that has a psychological effect on a person.

Question 10

What are the three main stages of drug testing?

Answer 10

Stage 1, 2, 3.

Question 11

What happens in stage 1?

Answer 11

The substance we think is a drug is tested on human cells and tissues grown in a lab. This is a Preclinical stage.

Question 12

What happens in Stage 2?

Answer 12

Testing on live animals. In the UK, all substances must be tested on live mammals such as mice and rabbits. There is also some testing on healthy volunteers, usually 100-300.

Question 13

What happens in Stage 3?`

Answer 13

The final stage is to give the drug to healthy volunteers. Firstly, we will give a very small dose. Then, we will gradually increase the dodge over time. This is done to find the optimum dosage of the drug.

Question 14

Name 4 protocols undertaken in tests?

Answer 14

Randomisation, Placebo, Double-Blind trials and Clinical trials

Question 15

What is randomisation of patients?

Answer 15

When all the participants are split into different groups

Question 16

What is a placebo?

Answer 16

A medicine that doesn’t actually have any of the real drug in it. Often used as a control method for experiments.

Question 17

What is a double blind trial?

Answer 17

A trial where neither the participants nor the researcher knows who has received the drug and who has received a placebo.

Question 18

What are clinical trials?

Answer 18

Research studies performed on people.

Question 19

Why are healthy volunteers used in clinical tests?

Answer 19

To make sure that there are no dangerous side effects.

Question 20

What are some advantages of making drugs in labs?

Answer 20

Different plants contain different amounts of the chemical, so it would be hard to regulate how much is in a drug/pill.
It requires a lot of plant to produce a little drug, however in labs they can be mass produced.
It is cheaper and quicker in labs.

Question 21

Why do plants produce drugs?

Answer 21

To benefit themselves, to stop anismals from eating them, to get rid of microorganisms, to attract organisms for pollination.

Question 22

What are monoclonal antibodies?

Answer 22

Monoclonal antibodies are simple antibodies from a single clone of a cell. Antibodies are small proteins produced by our immune system, and their job is to help us fight off disease.

Question 23

Where are monoclonal antibodies generally produced?

Answer 23

They are generally produced in laboratories.

Question 24

What is a hybridoma?

Answer 24

A hybridoma cell is A B - Lymphocyte cell combined with a fast dividing tumor cells.

Question 25

How do we make Monoclonal Antibodies?

Answer 25

Inject an animal, like a mouse, with the antigen. Then, let the mouse have an immune response and produce B-Lymphocytes. Once the B-Lymphocytes are formed, isolate them. Then, combine the tumor cells with the B-Lymphocytes to produce Hybridomas Let the Hybridomas divide for some time in a petri dish. Finally, collect the antibodies they produce and purify it.

Question 26

What can we add onto a monoclonal antibody?

Answer 26

Drugs, Fluorscent proteins and radioactive material

Question 27

Why do we add a fast dividing tumor cell to a B-Lymphocyte?

Answer 27

We need lots of B-Lymphocytes to make monoclonal antibodies, however they are naturally very slow at dividing, so we combine them with fast dividing tumor cells to make them divide quickly.

Question 28

What hormone does a women release when she is pregnant?

Answer 28

HCG

Question 29

How does a pregnancy test work?

Answer 29

The test strip has two parts. On the right, there are monoclonal antibodies specific to HCG, which means they can bind to the HCG hormone if they come into contact with it. On the left, there are beads. When the urine goes on the beads, covered in the same monoclonal antibodies seen on the right. The beads and the antibodies are free to move around. If the women isn’t pregnant, the urine will wash the beads right over the antibodies stuck to the strip on the right. This means that the strip will NOT go blue. However, if the women is pregnant, the HCG will bind to the antibodies, and it will bind to the fixed antibodies, and the beads will get stuck in place, making the test strip go blue indicating a positive result. In real life, most pregnancy tests have two lines, with the second line acting as a control. So you’ll need two lines for a positive result.

Question 30

What is the 'optimal dosage'

Answer 30

The dosage that is most effective at getting the desired outcome while causing the least side effects.

Question 31

Why should we use a placebo

Answer 31

It can prevent the placebo effect, it ensures the drug actually work and it eleminates psychological bias.

Question 32

What are the main application of monoclonal antibodies?

Answer 32

Diagnosis Pregnancy kits Cancer treatment Covid-19 test kit

Question 33

Why are double blind trials conducted?

Answer 33

To prevent researcher bias, ensures reliable results and allows for fair testing.

Question 34

Why are fluorescent dyes attached to monoclonal antibodies?

Answer 34

The monoclonal antibody will go and bind to the specific cell or protein, and the fluorescent dye will glow, allowing scientists to see exactly the antibody has attached to UNDER A MICROSCOPE