Informational Literacy and Drug Discovery
Practice how to use a variety of resources to find information
Research the “basics” about the drug discovery process
Practice doing a presentation and writing a research paper
View Drug Discovery Movie (optional)
Pick a drug to research
Utilizing library and Internet resources, find information on how this drug was
discovered and developed including the “chemistry”, how it was tested (Clinical Trials 1,
2 and 3), and were there any problems with its testing, and finally, if applicable, what its
rack record on the market.
Based on the Power Point rubic, develop a 10-15 minute Power Point presentation.
Based on the research paper rubric, write a paper using the Modern Language
Association (MLA) system for listing references.
Overview of Drug Discovery and Picking a Drug to Research
The American Chemical Society (ACS) produced the “Drug Discovery” movie with
funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Pay attention to the steps that are
required to put a drug on the market. You’ll need to know them to write your research
paper.
Pick a drug to research, possible suggestions are as follows: Viagra, Insulin, Human
Growth Hormone, Tissue Plasminogen Activator (TPA), Taxol, Gleevec, Herceptin,
Lipitor, Prozac, and the ever-changing group of drugs to treat HIV. In addition, I would
review your textbook, as it profiles a variety of drugs, and also use the popular search
engine, Google and its companion Google Scholar, to find an interesting drug to research.
Information on how to write the research paper is found at several sources such as Info
Trac, the website associated with the textbook, and also at several library websites such
as Capital Community College, Purdue, Cornell, University of Texas and Austin
Community College. The information can be found by using the keywords “How to write
a write a research paper using the MLA system”; accordingly please use the Modern
Language Association (MLA) system for listing references. Finally, review the
presentation rubric to make sure your paper follows the key points listed.
The Power Point presentation should follow the key points listed in the rubric. If you do
not own the software, ACC does or you can access it via the Biotechnology Department.
Companies do expect technicians to be able to give Power Point presentations. This is a
excellent opportunity to practice your presentation skills.