B6

Tumour cell

A fast growing cell that can divide endlessly but does not produce antibodies

Vaccine

Introducing small quantities of dead or inactive forms of a pathogen into the body to stimulate white blood cells to produce specific antibodies

Memory cells

White blood cells that remain in the body after a vaccination or infection to rapidly reproduce the correct antibodies if the same active pathogen returns

Herd immunity

When a large percentage of a population is immune to a disease through vaccination making it difficult for the pathogen to spread

Antibiotics

Medicines like penicillin that kill infective bacteria inside the body without harming human body cells

Painkillers

Medicines like paracetamol used to treat the symptoms of a disease such as pain or fever but do not kill the pathogen

Antibiotic resistance

When random genetic mutations cause a bacterium to survive antibiotic treatment and rapidly multiply by binary fission passing on the resistant gene

Digitalis

A traditional heart drug that was originally sourced and extracted from foxglove plants

Aspirin

A traditional painkiller and anti inflammatory drug that was originally sourced from the bark of willow trees

Penicillin

The first antibiotic discovered by Alexander Fleming extracted from Penicillium mould

Preclinical testing

The early stages of drug testing carried out in a laboratory using isolated human cells tissues and live animals to check for toxicity and efficacy

Toxicity

The drug testing variable that checks whether a medicine is safe to use or if it causes dangerous side effects

Efficacy

The drug testing variable that checks whether a medicine actually works and produces the desired biological effect

Dose

The drug testing variable that checks the concentration or amount of medicine that needs to be given to be safe and effective

Clinical trials

Drug testing stages that involve testing a medicine on healthy human volunteers and patient volunteers

Phase one clinical trial

Testing a drug on a small group of healthy volunteers using very low doses to monitor safety and check for side effects

Phase two clinical trial

Testing a drug on a larger group of human patients suffering from the target illness to find the optimum dose and check for efficacy

Placebo

A completely inactive fake substance given to a control group in a clinical trial that looks identical to the real drug being tested

Blind trial

A clinical trial where the patients do not know if they are receiving the active drug or the inactive placebo but the doctors do know

Double blind trial

A clinical trial where neither the patients nor the doctors know who has received the active drug or the placebo to eliminate observer bias

Peer review

The process where independent scientists check drug trial data before publication to ensure accuracy validate safety and prevent false claims

Monoclonal antibodies

Identical proteins produced from a single clone of cells that are specific to one binding site on one specific protein antigen

Lymphocyte

A type of white blood cell that produces specific antibodies but cannot divide endlessly outside the body

Tumour cell

A fast growing cell that can divide endlessly but does not produce antibodies

Hybridoma cell

A cell formed by fusing a specific mouse spleen lymphocyte with a tumour cell which can divide endlessly and produce monoclonal antibodies

HCG

The specific hormone found in the urine of pregnant women that monoclonal antibodies bind to in pregnancy test kits

Targeted cancer therapy

Using monoclonal antibodies bound to an anti cancer drug to attach specifically to tumour markers on cancer cells killing them without damaging healthy surrounding body cells

Mouse cells in mAbs

The biological reason monoclonal antibodies initially caused more side effects than expected because they triggered an immune response in human patients

Technical challenge of mAbs

They are highly expensive and difficult to produce compared to traditional chemical drugs