Where drugs come from, the stages of testing, placebos and double-blind trials, and percentage reductions from trial tables.
What you will learn
- Name the plant and mould sources of digitalis, aspirin and penicillin
- Put the stages of drug testing in order
- Explain placebos, double-blind trials and the optimum dose
- Calculate percentages, means and percentage reductions from trial data and evaluate a trial
Where drugs come from
Some drugs began in living things: digitalis (heart) from foxgloves, aspirin (painkiller) from willow, and penicillin, found by Alexander Fleming in the mould Penicillium.
Most new drugs are now made by chemists in the pharmaceutical industry.
The rest of this lesson and its 12 practice questions are locked.
In this lesson
- Where drugs come from
- Testing a new drug
- Percentage reduction
- Try it: First the percentages
12 practice questions, marked as you go; about 25 minutes in all.
Key terms
Digitalis, Aspirin, Penicillin, Toxicity, Efficacy, Optimum dose, Placebo, Double-blind, Range, Peer reviewed
In this unit: Infection and response
Pathogens and how they spread, the body's defences and the immune system, vaccines, antibiotics and resistance, drug trials, and (Biology only) monoclonal antibodies and plant disease.