"Fast
Synthesis Could Boost Drug Development." Fast Synthesis Could Boost
Drug Development. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Peptides, or small protein
fragments, are now capable of being drugs because peptides are designed for
specific function. Scientists can manipulate the peptide to serve a different
function as a drug. It is expected that peptide drugs become a wealthy
franchise. The pending issue that manufacturing the peptide drugs takes several
weeks is no longer an issue. MIT scientists and chemical engineers designed a
way to manufacture the peptide drugs in only hours. The new machinery created
only takes a few minutes to perform the chemical reactions needed to add one
amino acid to a chain as apposed to an hour each. This is possible with the
continuous flow system. The new system has storage vessels for each of the 20
amino acids, which are connected to pumps that pull out the correct amino acid.
When the amino acids flow in the chamber, where the reaction takes place, they
are heated to speed up the reaction. Researchers have patented the technology.
It is believed that only ten machines would be enough to meet the current
demand for the peptides; but how much does one machine cost?
The rapid
manufacturing has opened up the doors to many tests and discoveries that were
not possible before. Major worldwide issues such as diseases like cancer could
potentially benefit from the peptide drugs. The improvement in technology is
paving the way for advancement in cancer research and research for other
diseases. The peptide drugs could be the next stepping-stones to the cure for
cancer. The peptide drugs will also
become a vigorous market and make a lot of money. The fact that the new process
will allow for the current demand to be met will allow for an abundance of
tests and medical experiments revolving around disease for the most part. The
benefits that the peptide drugs could bring are endless. As I read I was
constantly wondering what would happen if the peptide drugs actually were able
to cure a major disease. Peptide drugs are no longer a dream they are a reality
and our society could only benefit from the vast amount of purposes they serve.
The article
had much strength throughout. A major strength was the use of quotes from the
actual scientists who created the new system and technology. This really gives
the reader a sense of understanding to the mentality of the major breakthrough,
rather than facts written down on a page. Another strength of the article was
the author’s use of statistics to give the reader a perspective. For example
“about 10 machines using the new technology would be enough to meet current
demand, which is about 100,000 to 500,000 custom peptides a year”. When I read
that statistic I immediately saw the big picture. This raised the question of
what will all of these custom peptides go to, what research, and what disease?
However, there were also some weaknesses about the article. The article ends
with a quote of one of the scientists, who states that the aim is to be able to
have next-day or two-day delivery of the peptide units. I wish that the author
wrote more on what else the peptides could do, or at least their purpose more
specifically as apposed to just talking about how quickly the custom peptides
can now be made.
This review was interesting too read and eye-opening. Veronica did an outstanding job presenting the authors purpose. She understood what they were saying and portrayed it to us as a reader in an understandable way. Veronica also had a well written critique. She explained how their statistics helped the writer but they only focused on the speed of production. Veronica wanted to know more about the peptide specifically. Lastly Veronica had a good statement on the effect on society. She explained how this could open doors into cancer research and prevention. This is something everyone in our world wants to hear about.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I enjoyed reading Veronica's review there were a few improvements she could have made. Veronica could have given a little less summary on the article. She made it more into an article than a review. Also she could have explained how this opens the door into cancer research. She only stated it didn't explain how this is possible.
This article is another article that I think everyone should pay attention too. This is what our world needs, cancer prevention. Drugs such as these are objects we need to put great effort into. I hope we can expand on this and Veronica helped me realize this.
Thanks for commenting Lindsay, but Veronica did not state that this drug development could prevent cancer, only that it MAY be used to make drugs that treat it. These machines do open up the field of synthetic peptides by allowing them to be produced at a much greater speed. This will allow them to be mass produced more cheaply, and allow them to be tested and developed faster. I think it is fascinating that we can now use machines to create organic molecules such as peptides and chromosomes. (Ian Baxter did a report on synthetic chromosomes!)
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