Musiccosmos

In the annals of the pharmaceutical industry, it’s hard to find an event more infamous than the thalidomide scandal. The drug, originally developed by German drugmaker Gr ü nenthal , was marketed in 1957 in Europe, Australia and parts of South America to treat morning sickness in pregnant women. But soon thereafter, it was blamed for severe birth defects in more than 10,000 babies across dozens of countries and an untold number of miscarriages, leading to a 1961 ban. Meanwhile, the US, the Food and Drug Administration did not approve it, and FDA scientist Frances Oldham Kelsey, who played a key role in keeping the drug from reaching American shores, died in 2015 at the age of 101. Despite the drug’s notoriety, the underlying mechanism for its infamous fetal toxicity had been poorly understood. But now, a team of researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston may have resolved the question. In addition, their research may also point the way forward in the development of ...