Scanning through billions of chemicals to find a few potential drugs for treating COVID-19 requires computers that harness together thousands of processors.
New rules attempt to curb opioid-related deaths in Australia. These changes are a step in the right direction – but we need to tread carefully to avoid unintended consequences.
The Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare Europe’s vulnerability to drug-supply disruption. Still, it remains by far the world leader in pharmaceutical products.
People who used strains with higher levels of THC were two times more likely to have anxiety – and four times more likely to report problems from their use.
Production of coca leaf, the raw material in cocaine, is surging in Peru despite 40 years of forced eradication designed to convince farmers to abandon it. Bolivia shows a better way forward.
Chronic pain is everyone’s problem. It’s costly, debilitating and, according to new statistics, increasingly common. Reversing the trend is achieveable but far from easy.
Nevan Krogan, University of California, San Francisco
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, identified nine existing drugs that show promise to treat COVID-19. The proteins they target haven’t been tried before.
People who use illicit drugs are at increased risk during the coronavirus pandemic. But minimising that risk will improve their well-being and help avoid additional pressure on the health system.
Researchers, scientific journals and health agencies are doing everything they can to speed up coronavirus research. The combination of pace and panic during this pandemic is causing mistakes.
Drug shortages occur regularly in the US, even in the best of times. The pharmaceutical supply chain embodies ‘just in time’ shipping and has little built-in redundancy.
Nevan Krogan, University of California, San Francisco
Among the more than 20,000 drugs approved by the FDA, there may be some that can treat COVID-19. A team at the University of California, San Francisco, is identifying possible candidates.
Young New Zealanders are less likely to use cannabis than their 1990s counterparts. But if New Zealand decides to legalise recreational use, teens will have easier access.