Have you recently run in the woods or in the open field? If so, it probably hasn't crossed your mind that you walked through the oldest and largest drug factory. However, a study will show that natural creation is an important source of chemicals used to treat our pain and suffering.
Have you had a headache recently? You have probably taken aspirin pills before. Aspirin has become the trade name for acetylsalicylic acid, which is now produced synthetically in mass production. However, aspirin was originally made from a substance found in arrow bark. Willow bark contains salicin. After a refining process, salicin produces salicylic acid, the basis of aspirin, possibly the most well-known pain reliever in the world.
Even the most sophisticated drugs in modern medicine are rarely new. They go back to creation. Time and time again, researchers have received ideas from traditional medicine. After chemists found that the use of certain plants helped certain diseases, they isolated the active ingredient for mass production. Let's look at some examples.
Plants as a source of raw materials
Plants provide the raw material for many medicines. A well-known heart medication is one example. About two centuries ago, a doctor in England noticed that a certain home remedy helped people with gout, a disease in which fluid collects in various tissues or body cavities. This measurement included the leaves of the fox plant, which was named Digitalis purpurea because of its finger-shaped purple flower. The "digital" chemistry comes from the glove sheets, known around the world as essential for the treatment of many people with heart disease. However, it would be safer to handle these leaves as they are very toxic and proper dosage is extremely important.
Another well-known medicinal herb is Atropa belladonna, also known as "the shadow of the deadly night". It is the source of atropine, the most famous member of a class of drugs that relieve spasms in various organs.
Plants also provide raw materials for medicines. The best known example is that of the poppy. A milky juice called opium (from the Greek word for poppy juice) is obtained from the dried seed pods of these poppies. Regarding the effects of drugs, a 17th century physician wrote: "Among the solutions Almighty God loved to use to alleviate their suffering, none is as universal and effective as opium." The analgesic properties of opium are based on the fact that it contains the alkaloid “morphine” in honor of Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. The famous codeine (from the Greek kōdeia, "poppy head") is a pain reliever based on morphine.
Almost everyone has heard of penicillin. This antibacterial substance may have helped you recover from a serious illness. Although penicillin is now manufactured on a large scale by industry, have you noticed that this “strange drug” has taken a humble start? It originally came from fungi of the genus Penicillium. One of her best varieties grew in a moldy melon stalk crop.
Have you ever heard of sweet clover disease? About fifty years ago, it was discovered that some cows fed on freshly hardened clover hay developed a disease characterized by heavy bleeding. Next, the researchers isolated the poison that disrupted normal blood clots in cattle. They called the substance dicumarol and today it serves as an important anticoagulant.
Remedies for animals
Animals are another source of modern medicine. Organ extracts, mainly from the glands of slaughtered animals, provide substances such as hormones and enzymes that act as ingredients in medicines. For example, the thyroid hormone thyroxine, which is used to treat certain types of thyroid disease, comes from the thyroid gland in animals.
Do you know someone who has diabetes? You may not be aware that the insulin used to treat this disease is usually obtained from the bovine pancreas. But much of the insulin is now produced synthetically.
Imitate creation
Of course, not all medicines contain purely natural substances. Where there are no natural ingredients, researchers have found that plastic production is useful. You can start with a natural substance that is similar to what you want and then "transform" it into the ingredient you want.
Think of the steroid "cortisone", which is commonly used to treat various diseases, including certain forms of arthritis. Natural cortisone is found in the bile of cattle. Of course, it is not the case that a single daily dose may require the bile of forty cattle. However, some yams that grow in Mexico contain a substance called diosgenin, which has a molecular structure similar to cortisone. Using an enzyme extracted from black bread, chemists were able to convert a molecule of diosgenin to a cortisone molecule. Today, there are several herbal by-products used to make cortisone.
Vitamin C, important for good health, is found naturally, but in very small amounts for mass production. After determining the molecular structure of ascorbic acid, which is pure vitamin C, the researchers discovered that it resembled another molecule: glucose. With the help of acetic acid bacteria, they were able to "rebuild" the glucose molecule into an ascorbic acid molecule and thus produce synthetic vitamin C.
After chemists successfully rebuilt existing molecules, they quickly learned to form completely new substances that do not exist in nature, but which are structurally similar to natural substances.
In fact, many of the products used in medical practice are merely synthetic modifications or reproductions of natural substances. Therefore, doctors continue to learn from creation in this modern age.
