101–110 of 152 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the earlier commenter meant ‘drug’ as in street drug. But though that may have once been true, these days there are plenty of other designer drugs that come in tiny doses, many of them not as friendly as LSD.
I don't understand why both are called drugs in English. My language also has the word "drugs" but it's used exclusively for street drugs.
Of course now after the fact that mRNA vaccines are hugely outperforming other technologies in COVID, we know that they are our best bet for other infectious diseases as well (including having a much better flu vaccine), but Moderna+BioNTech got a lot of money last year to find it out, and this was not that clear 1 year ago. What the article doesn't answer to me, is how to cure my 40 year old ex girlfriend with metab…
> mRNA can only be used to make the body make proteins that, well, the body can make. This might seem obvious, but it’s a pretty key part of where Moderna’s “software of life” analogy falls flat. It’s a limited software with limited toolkits. You’re not going to use mRNA in humans to make, say, an antibiotic that’s naturally produced in fungi. Hmm? I keep hearing about plants and bacteria that have been genetically m…
I believe this a reply to klevertree's comment, rather than the article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27682445
> mRNA can only be used to make the body make proteins that, well, the body can make. This might seem obvious, but it’s a pretty key part of where Moderna’s “software of life” analogy falls flat. It’s a limited software with limited toolkits. You’re not going to use mRNA in humans to make, say, an antibiotic that’s naturally produced in fungi. Hmm? I keep hearing about plants and bacteria that have been genetically m…
I believe this a reply to klevertree's comment, rather than the article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27682445
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand why both are called drugs in English. My language also has the word "drugs" but it's used exclusively for street drugs.
Drugs having to be government approved is a relatively recent development. Perhaps about a hundred years, give or take. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Opium_Convention The English language just hasn't caught on, yet. At least not completely. In eg German, people generally differentiate between Medikamente and Drogen, but they still have a Drogerie which is essentially the same as a drug store.
If a doctor asked me if I was 'taking any drugs', I would assume they wanted to know in confidence about anything recreational; not prescriptions/off the shelf medicine.
“The huge success of the mRNA vaccination platform” Does anyone know what the agreed upon criteria for asserting the success of mRNA vaccinations is? Aren’t we anticipating an uptick in cases in the US as we approach winter? Why are we assuming success already?
mRNA is the ultimate biohacking tool. You can potentially use it for weight loss by improving metabolism without exercising and a few other things.
Metabolism is complicated and there are some really nasty and weird metabolic diseases out there, based on some small regulatory feedback loop being broken. Don't fix a working system!
If your weight bothers you, just go for walk or a swim once in a while. Have a salad.
That's an important point we need to keep in mind: mRNA can be used to fix the body where it is broken/or not producing specific proteins when it would be needed. But it doesn't give us superpowers or change us into other beings than what we are.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand why both are called drugs in English. My language also has the word "drugs" but it's used exclusively for street drugs.
Drugs having to be government approved is a relatively recent development. Perhaps about a hundred years, give or take. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Opium_Convention The English language just hasn't caught on, yet. At least not completely. In eg German, people generally differentiate between Medikamente and Drogen, but they still have a Drogerie which is essentially the same as a drug store.
To add a little additional context 'Drogerie' mostly sells hygiene products, supplements and the like. They only sell 'Medikamente' which are allowed to be sold over the counter in Germany, which basically is Aspirin and everything that is even more harmless. You will not find the kind of drugs you typically get in a CVS in a German Drogerie.
Every serious drug is only sold in what is called 'Apotheke' = pharmacy.
In Germany Apotheke (pharmacy) and Drogerie (drug store) are very different. I think there is no real distinction between drug store and pharmacy in English, but I'm not sure. There is also Reformhaus which is pretty similar to a small Drogerie with a focus on healthy living.
EDIT: I checked my claim about the Aspirin and it seems I'm wrong. They are not even allowed to sell that. But it kind of reinforces my point: Drogerie doesn't really sell drugs in the sense the word is used in English.
Derek Lowe's articles during covid have been a huge help trying to navigate the coronavirus hellscape we have been in. It's great to see him start to talk post-covid applications of medicine as things maybe wind down a bit. Delta+ willing
His "Things I Won’t Work With" articles are really informative and entertaining. https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/thin... For example: Things I Won’t Work With: Dioxygen Difluoride https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2010/02/23/th...