from the but-does-it-work-on-Iocaine-powder? dept.
'Nanoscavengers' could protect people from sarin gas, other nerve agents
Nerve agents like sarin belong to a family of chemicals called organophosphates. Although some of these compounds are widely used in much lower concentrations as pesticides, the nerve agents are highly lethal because they get into the body quickly through the respiratory tract, eyes, or skin. Once inside cells, they inhibit an important enzyme whose normal function is to break down acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that helps muscles contract. When too much acetylcholine builds up, victims experience violent muscle spasms and eventually stop breathing.
Current antidotes must be given as soon as possible, and although they can help mitigate the symptoms of poisoning, they don't act directly on nerve agents. As a result, researchers have been trying to develop prophylactic "scavenging" molecules capable of seeking out and degrading nerve agents in the body upon exposure. But such "bioscavengers" have only been able to provide brief protection in various lab animals, and no such therapies have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In the current study, researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle tried a new tack. They wrapped an organophosphate-targeting enzyme called OPH in a flexible polymer gel coating. The end result was nanometer-size particles capable of going undetected by the immune system and staying in the body longer than the enzyme alone. When given before exposure to nerve agents, the nanoparticles clear the chemicals from the bloodstream.
Rats given a single injection of the "nanoscavenger" were completely protected against organophosphate exposure for up to 5 days without side effects. In treated guinea pigs, the nanoscavenger protected animals from multiple sarin injections for 8 days [open, DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aau7091] [DX], the team reports today in Science Translational Medicine.
The nanoscavenger could essentially act as a vaccine in people, says chemical engineer Shaoyi Jiang, a member of the team. If the therapy is optimized, the protection could potentially last for weeks or even months, he says.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday January 06 2019, @11:30PM
SPEAK IT?
VX' Wikipedia article provides its synthesis; I haven't checked any others but expect they all do as well.
Only _one_ person raised an objection on the Talk Page, in reply someone pointed out that there's not enough information there to actually cook the stuff in your kitchen, nor at the precursors available.
OK so I was heavily into Chemistry when I was a kid; my father encouraged it as he majored in Chemistry at UCB before he joined the Navy and was sent back to school for a EE degree. My mother encouraged it as well because her father was a surgeon, as mom always wanted me to be a doctor she knew I'd need to be good at chemistry.
(That I'm not a doctor is due to my being quite squeamish.)
So Dad gave me this 1940s Chemistry textbook that is of a kind that you'll never see used for undergraduate courses, as it detailed the chemical preparations for vast quantities of ill-advised chemicals, even Fulminating Silver. Not to be confused with Silver Fulminate, the Fulminating variety will explode _spontaneously_ when dry.
"Hey Mike - this is how you make Guncotton! Let's take it out in the backyard then detonate it." - My father's actual words.
If you know the structural name of a chemical or an IUPAC number then without a doubt you can figure out how to cook it in your kitchen.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]