Now on ScienceBlogs: The Galaxy's Biggest Valentine
musings on medicines from the Earth
Abel Pharmboy is the nom de plume of David J Kroll, a US state university educator and cancer researcher who holds a PhD in Pharmacology and Therapeutics and BS in Toxicology. He writes on natural product drugs and dietary supplements, issues of under-represented groups in the STEMM disciplines, science and medical journalism, the science and culture of North Carolina, Florida, and Colorado, making and listening to music and, with the help of his colleague, Erleichda, wine appreciation.
"Why Terra Sigillata?" will tell you more about the origin of the blog name.
Please read the DISCLAIMER for details on the blog's intended audience, advertising and comment policy, and how not to use the information presented herein.
For the record, this is a personal blog and any content or opinions expressed are solely the author's and do not reflect those of his university employer or funding agencies. He does get a bit ornery from time to time.
Category: Drugs of Abuse
USA Today's Donna Leinwand spoke yesterday of proposed K2 Spice bans across the US. But a careful analysis of our traffic raises questions as to whether the US military is about to make a move in this regard.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 11:02 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Chemistry
It is rare for a scientist to discover one drug that makes it to market. Sir James not only led the discovery of two major drugs, propranolol and cimetidine. As if that were not enough, each drug was a "first-in-class" agent, the first approved drug that acts via a novel mechanism of action.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 11:56 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Botanical/Herbal Medicines
A follow-on discussion of Pfizer's rejected patent claim and some molecular modeling thanks to valued readers, daedalus4u and Prof Ian Musgrave, respectively. You know, science blogging is cool.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 10:03 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Academia
"No one wanted to believe it because they didn't do it first"
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:02 AM • • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Academia
Yes, friends: this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry would not have been possible without the awesome power of natural products and the contributions of my natural products chemistry colleagues who provided Ramikrishnan, Steitz, and Yonath with the chemical tools for their work. "The ribosome is the target for about 50% of all antibacterial drugs to date, and the advent of high resolution structures of both ribosomal subunits has opened a large number of possibilities for [structure-based drug design] of new and effective drugs in the race against resistance development among bacterial pathogens."
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:02 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: The Working Scientist
For those new readers with an interest in pharmaceuticals, be sure to bookmark Derek Lowe's In The Pipeline.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:02 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: The Awesome Power of Natural Products
For all of you parents of children with cancer, here's what your kids might be doing in 50 years.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 1:02 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Drugs of Abuse
A repost of an early classic on real-time HPLC assessment of rave drug content by an Austrian research group funded to do so.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 11:23 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Pharmacognosy
A research post from Laura Mariani's Neurotypical? reminds us how finding a common receptor mechanism for entheogens and hallucinogens reveals once again the awesome power of natural products in the discovery of the pathophysiology and pharmacotherapeutics of human diseases.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 12:02 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Drugs of Abuse
My money, sadly, is on the hypothesis that the kid was trying to make meth.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:51 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
