Design a Drug

Imagine some kind of problem (could be health-related, social, or really anything) that could be improved by a new (hypothetical) drug. If you could custom design a drug for this purpose, what would that look like? If you could manipulate the properties of the drug so that its behavior/potency/toxicity is anything you want, what would be important for the problem you’ve chosen? Write an essay describing this hypothetical drug.
You may (and I would encourage you to) use existing drugs as references, and consider what works about them and what doesn’t. I do not expect your ideas to be feasible, and I absolutely do not expect any detailed chemistry explanations. Just use your creativity to demonstrate your understanding of course concepts.
Points to address in your essay:
Description of your chosen problem and why current drugs aren’t perfectly suited for it
Your drug’s targeted neurotransmitter systems, or other biological targets if it’s not psychoactive – To figure this out, think about how existing drugs exert their effects. Is there anything they do that you want to mimic or avoid?
Your drug’s broad biological and/or behavioral effects – These should relate to your chosen problem
Your drug’s distribution plan – How would people get it? Would it be regulated?
Your drug’s possible side effects – Could it be addictive or toxic? Could it lead to chronic health problems seen with other related drugs? If the drug could be designed (or distributed) exactly as you want, how could these issues be avoided?
The essay must be 1-2 pages, single-spaced. 9 points will be given for complete submissions. 12 points will be given for thoughtful submissions that incorporate at least 3 fundamental course concepts (anything from Exam 1 materials, which included basic principles of addiction, pharmacology, drug scheduling, etc). Submissions will be accepted until 11:59 PM Sunday, December 12 (the Sunday before finals week).

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