Cancer Chemotherapy - A Chemical Needle in a Haystack

Cancer Chemotherapy
A Chemical Needle in a Haystack

This reading asks the question, "How do you go about finding compounds that may cause or cure cancer when they are hidden in plants and animals along with thousands of other compounds?"

For more information, at other Web sites...

The Chemotherapy and Pharmacology Page — from the Guide to Internet Resources for Cancer, North of England Children's Cancer Research Unit, Department of Child Health, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Cyberbotanica: Plants and Cancer Treatments — contains information on plant-derived cancer drugs, from the University of Texas.
Hermann Joseph Muller — biography from the Nobel e-Museum.
History of Pharmacy: Robert Thom's Paintings — slide show of paintings of ancient pharmacy, including images of Dioscordes and Galen, from the Evans U.S. Army Hospital, Fort Carson MEDDAC.
Medicines by Design: The Biological Revolution in Pharmacology — from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health.
Peyton Rous — biography from the Nobel e-Museum.
The Reconstructors — be the drug discoverer in this postapocalyptic sci-fi drug development game that lets you rediscover the secrets of aspirin in a future world that has lost the knowledge of modern medicine, from Rice University.

Relevant National Science Education Standards

Physical Science — The molecular nature of matter is central this reading, as is the idea that altering a molecule's structure changes its properties. The students should grasp that new materials (e.g., drugs) with desired properties can be made by deliberately altering the structures of molecules.
Science and Technology — The reading focuses on the technology of adapting drugs from materials found in plants.
Science in Personal and Social Perspectives — The readings clearly show the impact of science on a personal and community health issue, namely cancer.
History and Nature of Science — The reading deals primarily with the historical perspective of plant-derived cancer drugs.

Relevant New Jersey State Science Education Standards

5.2 This historically oriented reading traces some of the discoveries that have led to modern cancer chemotherapy

5.6 Molecular structures illustrated in the reading reinforce the atomic and molecular nature of matter.

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5.2	This historically oriented reading traces some of the discoveries that have led to modern cancer chemotherapy
5.6	Molecular structures illustrated in the reading reinforce the atomic and molecular nature of matter.