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--------------8F3815B77850053832C53F3D Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Many drugs have both a good side and a bad side > Dear Janet: I tried to look into this article to verify its accuracy. By and large it is OK but there are several errors that crept into the text which presumably was written by a science reporter rather than a chemist. No one individual has two hands identical to each other nor two feet, whereas enantiomers or optical isomers are indeed identical to each other in every respect except that the D-isomer (for dextro) will rotate polarized light in one direction and the L-isomer (for levo) will rotate polarized light in the opposite direction. In fact that is one method of characterizing these compounds. Chloramphenicol is even more complex because the synthetic product contains two different structural isomers and each with two optical isomers, for a total of four. On the other hand, nature is more efficient by producing the one that provides the really efficacious antibiotic. These little errors throughout the text may not be significant to most, but nonetheless, one should strive for accuracy in the media. Be well, Janet, I really do enjoy reading your contributions from Canada as much as I did from Bermuda. with love to all Michel Margosis > (August 13, 1998 00:30 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) -- Hold the palm of > your left hand in front of a mirror. It reflects an image of your right hand. > Your right hand reflects an image of your left hand. Each foot also is a > mirror image of the other. > > The same mirror image effect exists on an invisible scale in the molecules > that make up medicines and other chemical compounds. It is fostering a quiet > revolution in the design of safer, more effective drugs for millions of > patients. > > A molecule of a drug is the smallest unit that can exist and still have the > drug's properties. Molecules are made from atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, > and other elements linked or bonded together in precise three-dimensional > architectures. > > Drugs and other chemical compounds with the mirror image effect are called > "chiral" drugs. They exist in two molecular forms, usually termed the "D" or > right-handed form and the "S" or left-handed form. > --------------8F3815B77850053832C53F3D Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit <HTML> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> <PRE>Many drugs have both a good side and a bad side</PRE> </BLOCKQUOTE> Dear Janet: <P>I tried to look into this article to verify its accuracy. By and large it is OK but there are several errors that crept into the text which presumably was written by a science reporter rather than a chemist. <BR>No one individual has two hands identical to each other nor two feet, whereas enantiomers or optical isomers are indeed identical to each other in every respect except that the D-isomer (for dextro) will rotate polarized light in one direction and the L-isomer (for levo) will rotate polarized light in the opposite direction. In fact that is one method of characterizing these compounds. <BR>Chloramphenicol is even more complex because the synthetic product contains two different structural isomers and each with two optical isomers, for a total of four. On the other hand, nature is more efficient by producing the one that provides the really efficacious antibiotic. <BR>These little errors throughout the text may not be significant to most, but nonetheless, one should strive for accuracy in the media. <P>Be well, Janet, I really do enjoy reading your contributions from Canada as much as I did <BR>from Bermuda. <P>with love to all <P>Michel Margosis <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> <PRE> (August 13, 1998 00:30 a.m. EDT <A HREF="http://www.nandotimes.com">http://www.nandotimes.com</A>) -- Hold the palm of your left hand in front of a mirror. It reflects an image of your right hand. Your right hand reflects an image of your left hand. Each foot also is a mirror image of the other. The same mirror image effect exists on an invisible scale in the molecules that make up medicines and other chemical compounds. It is fostering a quiet revolution in the design of safer, more effective drugs for millions of patients. A molecule of a drug is the smallest unit that can exist and still have the drug's properties. Molecules are made from atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and other elements linked or bonded together in precise three-dimensional architectures. Drugs and other chemical compounds with the mirror image effect are called "chiral" drugs. They exist in two molecular forms, usually termed the "D" or right-handed form and the "<I><U><FONT COLOR="#FF0000">S</FONT></U></I>" or left-handed form.</PRE> </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML> --------------8F3815B77850053832C53F3D--