Thalidomide Causing Birth Defects!

In 1961 a drug called thalidomide was discontinued for several reasons. Thalidomide was a drug prescribed for pregnant women who had morning sickness. It was discovered that this drug causing severe deformities in developing fetuses. About 10,000 children, worldwide were affected from thalidomide!

This article is basically about the reasons why thalidomide caused those

problems for the fetus. The primary cause for thalidomide's effect to cause fetal malformations is due to a protein called cereblon. Researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology proved this reason by using zebra fish and chick embryos. They presented that thalidomide binds to cereblon, causing pectoral fin mutations in the zebra fish and complete absence of forelimbs in the chicks. The researchers concluded that thalidomide exerts these effects by inhibiting cereblon function, because overproduction of cereblon prevented the malformations. However, the normal function of cereblon is still unknown.

(The picture above is the chemical structure of thalidomide: 2-(2,6-Dioxo-3-piperidinyl)-

1H-isoindole-1,3(2H)-dione)

Article:

Researchers Gain New Insights into the Mystery of Thalidomide-Caused Birth Defects