Science / Medicine : Molecule Aids Detoxification

Chemists have invented a molecule that can selectively latch onto barbiturates, raising the hope that the artificial receptors may be used to detoxify people who have taken overdoses.

“It is envisioned that these molecules would course through the blood, selectively sponging up and inactivating barbiturates before the drugs could reach their natural sites of action in the body,” said a spokesman for the American Chemical Society.

Princeton University chemistry professor Andrew D. Hamilton described the artificial barbiturate receptors in a recent issue of the society’s journal.

He said practical applications of the new molecules are still a long time off but added that the basic idea of constructing artificial receptors for molecules is an important concept that could lead to development of new classes of drugs.

The artificial receptors are like human antibodies in their ability to pick out a very small number of molecules from thousands that may be present. But the artificial receptors are potentially unlimited in design and can be used and studied outside the human body, where antibodies may cease to function.

While the first use of the receptors will be to help scientists understand how molecules recognize each other, they may someday be used as sensors for measuring minute quantities of just a single chemical, like barbiturate, from the complex mix of body fluids.