Discuss the value of chemistry in society

For some magazine in the modern world, and especially ulterior to the events of September 11th, at that place has been a wave of concern regarding chemistry and its potential drop destructive powers. There be m any people who hold a fearful attitude towards the chemical substance industry and its products. This is beca use the threat of chemical and bio-chemical weapons is really(prenominal) real and is a negative aspect of the business. Also it is often deemed environmentally unfriendly and un honest for the nearby public.However it is far wider believed that the pros outweigh the cons massively. To pageantry this I have produced a lesson study on Glaxo smith Kline.Read this Practice Test Chem 105BackgroundGlaxo Smith Kline, base in the UK, is one of the pharmaceutical industry drawing cards, with an estimated seven per cent of the worlds pharmaceutical market and decl are a global quest to improve the theatrical role of military man life by enabling people to do more, receive better and live longer. This shows just how people based the beau monde is notwithstanding its huge size. GSK is also involved in four major alterative areas anti-infectives, central nervous system (CNS), respiratory and gastro-in interrogatoryinal/metabolic. In addition, it is a leader in the important area of vaccines and has a growing range of oncology products and treatments. The phoner also has a Consumer Health contend section comprising over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, oral care products and nutritional healthcare drinks, all of which are among the market leaders.Employees and EmploymentGSKGSK has over 100,000 employees worldwide. Of these, over 40,000 are in sales and marketing, the largest sales force in the industry. Over 42,000 employees work at 104 manufacturing sites in 40 countries and over 16,000 are in RD. RD is based at 24 sites in seven countries. The company has a leading position in genomics/ genetics and new drug discoin truth technologies. The GSK RD work out is about 2.4bn.ImplicationsThis shows that the industry is a great employer for many job types, including test ground technicians, researchers, doctors, I.T. staff, biologists and others. It also employs testers for development of drugs and measure positioning effects on human patients. This is where much of the development money goes as the patients are barely will to be test subjects for quite large fees due to the potentially calumniatory side effects.Health and SafetyGSKThey take health and uprightty unfeignedly seriously as GSK.Because a lot of the work that goes on involves passing flammable organic solvents, no heating system is done with naked flames (there is only one Bunsen burner in the entire plant, and that is used by the codswallop blower for shaping pieces of glassware.) In the research labs heating will be done using electric mantles or electrically heated oil color baths. However, in the scale-up plant, where large volumes of soluble mate rials are used, even electrical heating is not allowed because of the danger of sparks. Instead they heat vessels by passing a pre-heated liquid through with(predicate) an outer jacket around the vessel. No meandering(a) phones or any electrical equipment are allowed inside in solecism they generated sparks which could ignite any flammable vapours. In the corridors outside the research laboratories there are emergency showers for people to use in the event of a chemical spillage and Hazard warnings are displayed e realwhere. tout ensemble chemicals have hazard-warning labels. near pieces of equipment have warning labels on them. Details of every try out were displayed where the experiment was carried out. A full risk assessment is done on any process before it is carried out. If any particularly hazardous materials are organism used, a notice is displayed on the outside of the lab and entry is confine to authorised personnel.In school we sometimes wear gloves when using chemic als. At GSK gloves are used routinely. There are various grades of gloves to chose from, depending on the personality of the chemicals creation used. The different grades are colour coded. The researcher has to specify which gloves to use in the risk assessment.ImplicationsThese near perfect safety precautions go a long instruction to proving that the chemical industry is really very safe and does not pose as much danger to the public as is often thought by many people. With the help of modern technology and careful planning the industry, it has become safer than many school science classes medicine DevelopmentGSKGSK spends millions of pounds each year on research and development. It costs something in the region of 450,000,000 to produce a new medicine. The process of developing a new medicine takes about 10 years.Research unremarkably begins with genetic research, which identifies the proteins involved in the disease.Then thousands of compounds will be tested to have if they react with the protein involved in the disease. This process is highly automated, using compounds stored in the automated chemical store.From this the better compound is identified. This will be the compound, which reacts best with the protein. This will not yet be good enough to be used as a therapeutic drug though. It whitethorn be too soluble to stay in the body for long it may be too insoluble to get into the blood stream. It may be toxic, or have other characteristics that make it un qualified for use as a drug.The next graduation is to modify compounds structure so that it has as near perfect properties as possible. For example, to make the compound less water-soluble so that it stays in the body for longer, large organic side groups could be added to the structure. (When penicillin was first discovered it was extremely water-soluble so was very quickly passed out of the body in the urine. Because penicillin was in such unawares supply it had to be recovered from the urine and recycled)Once a suitable compound has been found the next problem is to scale up work from milligrams to grams consequently to kilograms At this point the drug will need to be tested on living tissue (cells, not usually wholly animals)So far this process will have taken 4-5 years. marking up production has lots of difficulties associated with it. Reactions that work well on a milligram scale may not work on a 20 kg scale. There may be difficulties associated with weighing, heating, stirring, transferring, cooling and purifying. ways of solving all these difficulties have to be found.The drug will then enter the clinical trials stage. At first it will only be tested for side effects in a few bouncing volunteers. It will then be used in trials in patients with the disease. If thriving the drug will then be licensed for use and do generally available. Even after this point the drug must be monitored.ImplicationsThere is a massive amount of money macrocosm poured into the c hemical industry by investors. This is good for the stock market and the global economy, the employees of the company and the public who will need the developed drugs. It is a very safe system and those who are put at risk do so by their own admission. The testers are paid quite large toughie sums for testing if the drug has any side effects and are usually young healthy men and women at university or college. Very midget testing on animals is being carried out any more. There is testing on animal tissue, but this is done on a very small scale and animals are rarely harmed. This is a great step for the industry, which for some time has been beset by animal rights groups protesting their actions. Also the time taken for the drug to be developed is good for job perceptual constancy for the researchers and developers who are needed far beyond the initial stages of production.Environmental IssuesGSKAll solvents are collected in large containers under the benches of each lab. When the se are full they are taken away and dealt with in a way appropriate to the particular solvent.All waste from the labs is treated as being contaminated and is incinerated. The ash from this is disposed of in landfill sites.Potentially a very large volume of water would be put into the local sewerage system. To avoid overloading the system, GSK have installed a recycling system where the water that passes through condensers is reused in a closed system. This also of course saves water. There are no sinks in any of the labs so that nothing can be poured away like is practiced in schools. They are very environmentally friendly.ImplicationsThis is great for the environment as nothing is thrown away. It is all dealt with guardedly and the industry is becoming far more eco-friendly than in the past.ConclusionFrom my case study of Glaxo Smith Kline I have found that the industry is in reform. It is becoming far safer and there are many less ethical issues than ever before. Animal testing is low and the environment is finally being preserved. The industry is good for the economy and employs many people from college and university graduates to product test subjects. The pros of chemistry in society far outweigh the cons and this is illustrated perfectly in Glaxo Smith Kline.