 |
 First edition | |
| Author | Mildred Savage |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date | 1964 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
In Vivo is a novel by Mildred Savage. The novel was originally published in hardback by Simon & Schuster in 1964.
In 1946, young, idealistic scientist Tom Cable steers the fiscally conservative Enright Drug and Chemical Company into dangerous financial waters by committing an increasing number of company resources to the research and development of a new broad-spectrum antibiotic.
Supporting Cable in his search for a new broad-spectrum antibiotic are Ade Hale (president), Will Caroline (vice-president for research), Maxwell Strong, and Dr. Mills. Opposing them are Claude Morrissey (director of biochemistry) and Gil Brainard (vice-president for production). The story line is linear with traditional character arcs. The heroes and villains are archetypal with the heroes often possessing trope-like names (e.g. Max Strong, Constance, Hope, etc.) and generally embodying all that is good while the villains back-stab, bicker and descend into abject immorality.[ citation needed ]
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word spectrum was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light after passing through a prism. As scientific understanding of light advanced, it came to apply to the entire electromagnetic spectrum. It thereby became a mapping of a range of magnitudes (wavelengths) to a range of qualities, which are the perceived "colors of the rainbow" and other properties which correspond to wavelengths that lie outside of the visible light spectrum.
Sulfonamide is a functional group that is the basis of several groups of drugs, which are called sulphonamides, sulfa drugs or sulpha drugs. The original antibacterial sulfonamides are synthetic (nonantibiotic) antimicrobial agents that contain the sulfonamide group. Some sulfonamides are also devoid of antibacterial activity, e.g., the anticonvulsant sultiame. The sulfonylureas and thiazide diuretics are newer drug groups based upon the antibacterial sulfonamides.
Oxytetracycline is a broad-spectrum tetracycline antibiotic, the second of the group to be discovered.
A spectrum is a condition or value that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum.
Carbapenems are a class of very effective antibiotic agents most commonly used for treatment of severe bacterial infections. This class of antibiotics is usually reserved for known or suspected multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections. Similar to penicillins and cephalosporins, carbapenems are members of the beta-lactam antibiotics drug class, which kill bacteria by binding to penicillin-binding proteins, thus inhibiting bacterial cell wall synthesis. However, these agents individually exhibit a broader spectrum of activity compared to most cephalosporins and penicillins. Furthermore, carbapenems are typically unaffected by emerging antibiotic resistance, even to other beta-lactams.
Production of antibiotics is a naturally occurring event, that thanks to advances in science can now be replicated and improved upon in laboratory settings. Due to the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming, and the efforts of Florey and Chain in 1938, large-scale, pharmaceutical production of antibiotics has been made possible. As with the initial discovery of penicillin, most antibiotics have been discovered as a result of happenstance. Antibiotic production can be grouped into three methods: natural fermentation, semi-synthetic, and synthetic. As more and more bacteria continue to develop resistance to currently produced antibiotics, research and development of new antibiotics continues to be important. In addition to research and development into the production of new antibiotics, repackaging delivery systems is important to improving efficacy of the antibiotics that are currently produced. Improvements to this field have seen the ability to add antibiotics directly into implanted devices, aerosolization of antibiotics for direct delivery, and combination of antibiotics with non antibiotics to improve outcomes. The increase of antibiotic resistant strains of pathogenic bacteria has led to an increased urgency for the funding of research and development of antibiotics and a desire for production of new and better acting antibiotics.
Imipenem is a synthetic β-lactam antibiotic belonging to the carbapenems chemical class. developed by Merck scientists Burton Christensen, William Leanza, and Kenneth Wildonger in the mid-1970s. Carbapenems are highly resistant to the β-lactamase enzymes produced by many multiple drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, thus playing a key role in the treatment of infections not readily treated with other antibiotics. It is usually administered through intravenous injection.
ViroPharma Incorporated was a pharmaceutical company that developed and sold drugs that addressed serious diseases treated by physician specialists and in hospital settings. The company focused on product development activities on viruses and human disease, including those caused by cytomegalovirus (CMV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. It was purchased by Shire in 2013, with Shire paying around $4.2 billion for the company in a deal that was finalized in January 2014. ViroPharma was a member of the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index and the S&P 600.
Tetracyclines are a group of broad-spectrum antibiotic compounds that have a common basic structure and are either isolated directly from several species of Streptomyces bacteria or produced semi-synthetically from those isolated compounds. Tetracycline molecules comprise a linear fused tetracyclic nucleus to which a variety of functional groups are attached. Tetracyclines are named after their four ("tetra-") hydrocarbon rings ("-cycl-") derivation ("-ine"). They are defined as a subclass of polyketides, having an octahydrotetracene-2-carboxamide skeleton and are known as derivatives of polycyclic naphthacene carboxamide. While all tetracyclines have a common structure, they differ from each other by the presence of chloro, methyl, and hydroxyl groups. These modifications do not change their broad antibacterial activity, but do affect pharmacological properties such as half-life and binding to proteins in serum.
Doripenem is an antibiotic drug in the carbapenem class. It is a beta-lactam antibiotic drug able to kill Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Antiparasitics are a class of medications which are indicated for the treatment of parasitic diseases, such as those caused by helminths, amoeba, ectoparasites, parasitic fungi, and protozoa, among others. Antiparasitics target the parasitic agents of the infections by destroying them or inhibiting their growth; they are usually effective against a limited number of parasites within a particular class. Antiparasitics are one of the antimicrobial drugs which include antibiotics that target bacteria, and antifungals that target fungi. They may be administered orally, intravenously or topically. Overuse or misuse of antiparasitics can lead to the development of antimicrobial resistance.
Lloyd Hillyard Conover was an American chemist and the inventor of tetracycline. For this invention, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Conover was the first to make an antibiotic by chemically modifying a naturally produced drug. He had close to 300 patents to his name.
Flurithromycin is a second generation macrolide antibiotic. It is a fluorinated derivative of erythromycin A. It is a broad spectrum antibiotic with similar bactericidal action to erythromycin. Unlike erythromycin, flurithromycin is more tolerant of acidic environments, meaning more survives the digestion process, resulting in higher serum levels, and more efficacious elimination of susceptible bacteria, including staphylococcus aureus and streptococcus pyogenes.
Basilea Pharmaceutica is a multinational specialty biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. It was formed as a spin-off entity from the drug giant Hoffmann–La Roche in October 2000. It is engaged in the development of antibiotics, antifungals and oncology drugs for treatment of invasive aspergillosis and mucormycosis. Basilea is publicly traded on the SIX Swiss exchange.
Melinta Therapeutics, founded in 2000 as Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, is an American publicly traded biopharmaceutical firm that focuses on the design and development of novel broad-spectrum antibiotics for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant infections in hospital settings. The company is located in Parsippany, New Jersey.
Clavams are a class of antibiotics. This antibiotic is derived from Streptomyces clavuligerus NRRL 3585. Clavam is produced to form a new β-lactam antibiotic. This class is divided into the clavulanic acid class and the 5S clavams class. Both groups are the outcomes of the fermentation process produced by Streptomyces spp. Clavulanic acid is a broad-spectrum antibiotic and 5S clavams may have anti-fungal properties. They are similar to penams, but with an oxygen substituted for the sulfur. Thus, they are also known as oxapenams.
Ralph Franz Hirschmann was a German American chemist who led a team that was responsible for the first organic synthesis of an enzyme, a ribonuclease.
Michael S. Gilmore is an American, focusing in infectious diseases and ocular genomics, currently the Sir William Osler Professor of Ophthalmology (Microbiology), Harvard Medical School, Mike serves as Director of the Infectious Disease Institute, and Co-Director of the Microbial Sciences Initiative of Harvard University. Additionally, he is a Senior Associate Member of the Broad Institute. As Principal Investigator of the Harvard-wide Program on Antibiotic Resistance, his research focuses on the evolution and development of multidrug resistant strains of enterococci, staphylococci, and streptococci, and the development of new therapeutics. He was named by Eric Lander in “The Heroes of CRISPR”3 as inspiring Broad Institute interest in developing CRISPR as a tool for therapeutic gene editing. Mike has trained over 35 graduate students and postdocs, and is currently course coordinator and principle lecturer in the Harvard University course OEB290/MICRO210 Microbiology: Chemistry, ecology and evolution. Outside of Harvard, he serves as chair of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) blue ribbon panel for the Antimicrobial Resistance Diagnostic Challenge. He is past chair of the NIH Bacterial Pathogenesis Study Section, the Gordon Conference on Microbial Adhesion and Signal Transduction, American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Division D, and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) IM Section. Mike is founder of the International Conference on Enterococci (ICE) series, and the Boston Area Antibiotic Resistance Network (BAARN). He started his academic career in 1984 at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, where he rose through the ranks to Vice President for Research. He also held the MG McCool professorship and was awarded the George Lynn Cross research chair. In 2004 he moved to Harvard Medical School as President and CEO of the Schepens Eye Research Institute, Marie and DeWalt Ankeny Director of Research and CL Schepens Professor of Ophthalmology. In 2010, he moved his laboratories to the Massachusetts General Hospital campus, in the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He has published over 200 peer reviewed manuscripts in Cell, Nature, Science, PNAS and other leading journals. He continues to serve on numerous advisory boards and committees for public and private organizations, focused on drug discovery, antibiotic resistance, and bacterial pathogenesis.
The antimicrobial spectrum of an antibiotic means the range of microorganisms it can kill or inhibit. Antibiotics can be divided into broad-spectrum antibiotics, extended-spectrum antibiotics and narrow-spectrum antibiotics based on their spectrum of activity. Detailedly, broad-spectrum antibiotics can kill or inhibit a wide range of microorganisms; extended-spectrum antibiotic can kill or inhibit Gram positive bacteria and some Gram negative bacteria; narrow-spectrum antibiotic can only kill or inhibit limited species of bacteria.
Broad-spectrum antivirals (BSAs) are a class of molecules or compounds, which inhibit the infection of multiple viruses from the same or different virus families. BSAs could be divided into experimental and investigational agents, and approved drugs. BSAs work by inhibiting viral proteins or by targeting host cell factors and processes exploited by different viruses during infection. As of 2021, there are 150 known BSAs in varying stages of development, effective against 78 human viruses. BSAs are potential candidates for treatment of emerging and re-emerging viruses, such as ebola, marburg, and SARS-CoV-2. Many BSAs show antiviral activity against other viruses than originally investigated. Efforts in drug repurposing for SARS-CoV-2 is currently underway. A database of BSAs and viruses they inhibit could be found here.
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