More than 60 years after the drug thalidomide caused birth defects in thousands of children whose mothers took the drug while pregnant, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have solved a mystery that has lingered ever since the dangers of the drug first became apparent: how did the drug produce such severe fetal harm?
The answer, published online today by the journal Elife, not only helps resolve an issue that has been the subject of scientific curiosity for two generations, but will be critical as pharmaceutical companies develop a promising new generation of anticancer drugs that share a basic chemical architecture with thalidomide, the study authors say.
Source: News Medical Life Sciences
