Research Questions?

[ljube_02]

How would you make a drug similar to Fentanyl?
i.e. if you're in undergrad, do you make anything similar to it in the organic chem lab? or in other classes?
Are there any professors who do research in manufacturing such drugs? And can undergrad students work with them, and learn to do this?
What equipment do professors use to manufacture new drugs?

If you're in med school, in what specialty would you need to do research if you wanted to know more about effects on the body of unknown anesthetic drugs?

How about explosives. i.e. do any universities manufacture tactical explosives similar to plastid, do research... or it's restricted to military? thanks

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[ljube_02]

And another question: if you major in chemistry or biochemistry, what will you learn in undergrad that you wont repeat later in med school, if anything?
thanks

 

[Adcadet]

Why do you ask all these questions?

 

[Adcadet]

Originally posted by ljube_02
And another question: if you major in chemistry or biochemistry, what will you learn in undergrad that you wont repeat later in med school, if anything?
thanks

Why?

 

[Adcadet]

Originally posted by Gleevec
Uh Adcadet, take a look at this guy. I could be overreacting (especially since he has seem to have posted a lot), but Ill take that list. First off you should delete your post (like I did).

He has a skull and crossbones as his avatar.

His signature supports the confederacy.

He is asking how to make fentanyl, which, if you didnt know, was used as a chemical warfare agent in Russia.

He then asks about how to make other chemical weapons.

I dont know if this guy is joking or not, but either way its not funny. Dont answer anything this or any other guy might ask about chemical warfare stuff, you can only do more harm than good. If he wants to ask about programs in that kind of research, he can do it in person.

I think its a safe warning to most internet users on messageboards that questions regarding weapons manufacturing shouldnt be answered. Of course this kind of stuff can be talked about in person or whatnot, but I would definitely avoid giving out any information like this on the internet. He might have an honest and curious interest in the field, but better safe than sorry.

Good point. I couldn't believe that he could have malicious intent....but now that you mention it, perhaps he does. Better safe than sorry. Messages edited.

 

[ljube_02]

Thanks for the info.

I am premed and would like to possibly go to med school. But i am also interested in the following things: narcotics, explosives, and radios/lasers. So if i major in physics, my research will not involve narcotics or explosives. And if i dont major in physics, then i'll never know anything about it.

I wonder what kind of research the students are allowed to do in med school? i.e. how much time are they given for their project? and if they dont plan to specialize in anesthesiology, will it still be of any use to do research in that area?

I guess i might major in physics with minor in pharmacology, but then i dont think i'll get to do much of either. So i just want to choose between physics and biochemistry for a college major now.

To add more to my questions:
I would like to know if in organic lab you are actually taught enough to participate in drug "discovery" or explosives research. i.e. if the only chem classes i take are general and organic chem, can i then participate in undergrad research in those areas? Or i'd have to take more advanced chem classes?

"Do you mean to discover a new drug, or to manufacture a known compound? Drug discovery is pretty complex and involved a ton of things. Drug synthesis is often just "straight" chemistry, from what I know. And there's usually a huge difference in scale when talking about doing drug discovery in which you make the compound and when you manufacture it for commercial sale. "
I would like to know what involves in "drug discovery". and is this a branch of "organic chemistry" research?

thanks.

I ask this because i am interested in such research. here are some cool things:
You can use special gas against terrorists (in moscow)
You can use tactical explosives to blow a wall without injuring the hostages inside (in moscow)
You can use flash grenades on terrorists too-also chemistry.
There is a rumour that Israel has some bio weapons which would kill based on genetics -sounds interesting.

In physics, what interests me is that the equipment is so expensive! I guess the physicists do some very important research lol.

 

[Adcadet]

ljube_02 - what year are you in school? What school? What country? What is your current major? How long have you been pre-med? Do you want to practive clinical medicine?

 

[Gleevec]

Hey,
You can definitely do that kind of research, but usually that occurs in grad schools and not medical schools. The DOD will give grants to chemists and physicists to come up with that kind of stuff, and usually that research takes place within the armed forces themselves (so you can enlist if you have a deep interest), or they will outsource the research to universities. It sounds like the field you are interested in is a graduate field requiring a PhD. MDs and medical schools dont do much research into offenssive warfare (hippocratic oath violations and whatnot).

Though there might be some PhDs working on this kinda stuff in med schools, they are usually associated with the university, not the med school.

In grad level pharmacology you learn about rational drug design and combinatorial chemistry, which can be used in novel drug design. But if you want to design chemical weapons, you will have to either work for the army or one of the labs that the army outsources work with (either way youre not looking at an MD degree, which would probably prove useless in this field, but rather a PhD). I dont think med students are allowed to do this kind of research for ethical reasons (hippocratic oath) though.

Sorry if I misinterpreted your intent, I guess I was overly cautious.

 

[BrainDrain]

 

[Adcadet]

Originally posted by Gleevec
Hey,
You can definitely do that kind of research, but usually that occurs in grad schools and not medical schools. The DOD will give grants to chemists and physicists to come up with that kind of stuff, and usually that research takes place within the armed forces themselves (so you can enlist if you have a deep interest), or they will outsource the research to universities. It sounds like the field you are interested in is a graduate field requiring a PhD. MDs and medical schools dont do much research into offenssive warfare (hippocratic oath violations and whatnot).

Though there might be some PhDs working on this kinda stuff in med schools, they are usually associated with the university, not the med school.

In grad level pharmacology you learn about rational drug design and combinatorial chemistry, which can be used in novel drug design. But if you want to design chemical weapons, you will have to either work for the army or one of the labs that the army outsources work with (either way youre not looking at an MD degree, which would probably prove useless in this field, but rather a PhD).

Sorry if I misinterpreted your intent, I guess I was overly cautious.

I believe the US military is prohibited from conducting offensive BW/CW research (they may be allowed to do research on non-leathal stuff such as CS/OC gas). Although they can conduct defensive research. I heard a guy from USAMRICW a number of years ago. Freaky stuff!

 

[Gleevec]

Nonlethal chemical agents fall exactly on the line between chemical and allowed weapons agents. The US cannot openly conduct the type of chemical weapons research you are interested in, and if you are right about Israel, they have violated serious international treaties (also I dont know what genes they are targetting, but it sounds like some sort of eugenics weapon if you ask me).

Basically you can design new explosives, but that is more physics and chem and that is something that is done in graduate work, corporations, or in govt in a tightly regulated manner.

You cannot work on drugs like Fentanyl for use as chemical agents in the US. You can work on their antidotes though. If you are an anestesiologist, you will NEVER work on the weaponization of a narcotic agent because it violates international law and the hippocratic oath.

It sounds like the type of research you want to do is not feasible in a med school setting or as an MD. Consider graduate level work in the field with the hope of eventually entering the armed forces research divisions.

 

[Adcadet]

given your interests, perhaps you'd be better in law enforcement or the military.