Virtual library of LSD-like drugs could reveal new antidepressants
Nature Podcast
podcast@nature.com
4.5 • 893 Ratings
🗓️ 5 October 2022
⏱️ 20 minutes
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Summary
In this episode:
00:46 A virtual chemical library uncovers potential antidepressants
Certain psychedelic drugs are of interest to researchers due to their promising antidepressant effects. To help speed up the discovery of molecules with useful properties, researchers have built a virtual library of 75 million compounds related to these drugs. This approach yielded two molecules that showed antidepressant properties in mice, but without the hallucinogenic activity of psychedelic drugs.
Research article: Kaplan et al.
Research Briefing: Bespoke library docking for 5-HT2A receptor agonists with antidepressant activity
08:25 Research Highlights
Research suggests that ancient artificial island settlements were hubs of activity for society’s elite, and astronomers spot possibly the most luminous star ever observed.
Research Highlight: Ancient DNA suggests that artificial islands were party spots for the elite
Research Highlight: Scientists face down ‘Godzilla’, the most luminous star known
10:42 Nobel News
Flora Graham from the Nature Briefing joins us to talk about the winners of this year’s Nobel Prizes.
Nature News: Geneticist who unmasked lives of ancient humans wins medicine Nobel
Nature News: ‘Spooky’ quantum-entanglement experiments win physics Nobel
Nature News: Chemists who invented revolutionary 'click' reactions win Nobel
Enter Nature’s ‘Scientist at Work’ photo competition, full details here
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Transcript
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| 0:36.3 | In an experiment. |
| 0:38.4 | We don't know yet. |
| 0:40.3 | Why is it like so far? |
| 0:41.6 | Like it sounds so simple. |
| 0:43.0 | They had no idea. |
| 0:44.3 | But now the data's... I find this not only refreshing, but at some level astounding. |
| 0:52.0 | Nature. |
| 0:57.9 | Welcome back to the Nature podcast. |
| 1:05.3 | This week, a virtual chemical library identifies LSD-related antidepressants that lack the trip and the latest on this year's Nobel science winners. |
| 1:09.6 | I'm Benjamin Thompson. |
| 1:18.3 | Thank you. on this year's Nobel Science winners. I'm Benjamin Thompson. Drugs like LSD or Silocybin, one of the key molecules in magic mushrooms, are probably |
| 1:24.4 | best known for their ability to induce powerful hallucinations in people who take |
| 1:29.2 | them. But these drugs are also of great interest to researchers, because in some cases they've |
| 1:35.4 | shown strong promise as antidepressants. Recently, a paper came out in nature demonstrating a new way |
| 1:42.5 | to virtually test millions of chemicals related |
| 1:45.7 | to these psychedelics to help speed up the discovery of similar drugs that might have potential |
... |
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