> tetratogenic That’s like a teratogen, but four times as bad!
Yep, it looks like a typo. Perhaps you can add a comment there or send an email (it's available under his photo).
Temozolomide Is Explosive
81–90 of 128 posts
Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nitrogen-Nitrogen bonds inside larger molecules are never quite stable because 1) nitrogen “wants” to form stable di-nitrogen (N2) molecules containing a very stable triple bond (an exothermic reaction) and 2) the result of such decompositions is nitrogen gas increasing the amount of entropy released (due to more molecules being created). Reactions are driven both by the amount of heat released (enthalpy) and the amo…
Does the same apply to oxygen? Since it also likes to be in a diatomic form.
Hydrogen peroxide at sufficient concentration can be used as rocket fuel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_peroxide
"High-concentration H2O2 is referred to as "high-test peroxide" (HTP). It can be used either as a monopropellant (not mixed with fuel) or as the oxidizer component of a bipropellant rocket."
Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive
#83Chemotherapy is basically cave man medicine. That a therapeutic drug is explosive only adds to that sentiment. The idea that we'll basically poison you just up to a point that's nearly fatal in order to kill the cancer is such a terrible way to treat someone. Now I'm not saying don't ever do it -- unfortunately that's where we're at in 2021. It's just kind of unbelievable that cancer remains so elusive that we're sti…
A rather surprising number of chemo compounds trace directly to chemical warfare and compounds used during WWI, including several mustard-gas-related compounds. Some years ago, a close friend died of a relatively rare and aggressive form of cancer. Among my roles was running interference against those who were pitching various miracle cures, with that tired old scam laetril playing a significant role. In the decades…
> and virtually always due to genetic mutation within the affected cells
I haven't followed up on this, but I seem to remember hearing about research about 20 years ago that even with cancer-associated mutations, cancer usually required physical damage to the intercellular matrix before it would manifest.
If that's true, I’m not sure identifying the genetic mutations as the cause (at least the proximate cause) of cancer might not be entirely accurate, or at least might be somewhat misleading.
Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive
#84Chemotherapy is basically cave man medicine. That a therapeutic drug is explosive only adds to that sentiment. The idea that we'll basically poison you just up to a point that's nearly fatal in order to kill the cancer is such a terrible way to treat someone. Now I'm not saying don't ever do it -- unfortunately that's where we're at in 2021. It's just kind of unbelievable that cancer remains so elusive that we're sti…
There are some drugs that target the underlying mechanism, herceptin is a particularly famous one.
For those interested in this kind of thing I’d highly recommend the book The Emperor of All Maladies.
For Herceptin specifically, there was a book called her-2.
Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive
#85Chemotherapy is basically cave man medicine. That a therapeutic drug is explosive only adds to that sentiment. The idea that we'll basically poison you just up to a point that's nearly fatal in order to kill the cancer is such a terrible way to treat someone. Now I'm not saying don't ever do it -- unfortunately that's where we're at in 2021. It's just kind of unbelievable that cancer remains so elusive that we're sti…
> It's just kind of unbelievable that cancer remains so elusive
One of the problems with cancer is that it's really an umbrella term that covers a huge variety of problems to solve. There are many, many ways for the normal cell lifecycle to get disrupted, and they will all respond differently to different treatments. I'm not sure if a single technology will ever appear to allow all cancers to be treated.
Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive
#86I mean in fairness we still use nitroglycerine for some heart ailments, so chemo - a field filled with horrific chemicals - having an explosive shouldn't be too surprising.
The surprising part is that it’s been around since the 1970s and someone has only just gotten around to discovering this.
Its dosage as a drug is in the milligrams range, and in that form it will be combined with many times more inert filler material, so I suspect it could simply be because a sufficiently large amount of it has never been subjected to enough energy to produce an actual explosion.
The discovery is the opposite of nitroglycerin, whose explosive properties (and the production of massive amounts) were discovered before its medicinal ones.
Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive
#87"What they found was rapid onset of decomposition at 170 degrees" So this seems to be more about people in a lab situation rather than it being so unstable it reacting sitting in someone's hot car. Suspecting it to react at 212 and finding it reacting at 170 could ruin a lab tech's day to be sure. Those are the jobs that sound fun "for the science" lets see what happens when...
nb: Decomposition happens at 170 degrees Celsius - around 340 degrees Fahrenheit. A fair bit warmer than a hot car usually gets.
I think the article also mentions hitting it with a hammer.
I imagine that hitting it after it’s been inside a hot car would cause it to decompose more enthusiastically.
Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive
#88Is it all that surprising though, considering how much nitrogen is stuffed into that molecule?
Just by looking at it I get the impression every part of the molecule has a deep hatred for every other part.
Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive
#89That would have been a perfect device plot for Breaking Bad.
Either that of it’d be an origin story for a superhero who can trigger explosions.
Re: Temozolomide Is Explosive
#90Chemotherapy is basically cave man medicine. That a therapeutic drug is explosive only adds to that sentiment. The idea that we'll basically poison you just up to a point that's nearly fatal in order to kill the cancer is such a terrible way to treat someone. Now I'm not saying don't ever do it -- unfortunately that's where we're at in 2021. It's just kind of unbelievable that cancer remains so elusive that we're sti…
The idea that we'll basically poison you just up to
a point that's nearly fatal in order to kill the
cancer is such a terrible way to treat someone.
It's also a hazard in drug discovery - the linked blog has plenty of examples of compounds that did a GREAT job of disrupting biological activity of a pathogen in a Petri dish because they're GREAT at wrecking biology in general.
One other note, re: "started from mustard gas" - many antibiotics are really just chemical weapons we're borrowing from fungi.