Scientists discover why thalidomide caused severe birth defects to babies.

Using zebra fish and chickens, Takumi Ito, Hiroshi Handa and colleagues at the Tokyo Institute of Technology discovered that thalidomide inhibits the enzymatic activity of the protein cereblon, which is important for limb development.

Scientists discover why thalidomide caused severe birth defects to babies.

Japanese scientists have discovered why thalidomide caused severe birth thousands of babies over half a century ago, which will produce safer derivatives of the drug, now prescribed to patients with multiple myeloma and leprosy.

Using zebra fish and chickens, Takumi Ito, Hiroshi Handa and colleagues at the Tokyo Institute of Technology discovered that thalidomide inhibits the enzymatic activity of the protein cereblon, which is important for limb development.

His research is published in the latest edition of the journal Science. In the 1950s and 1960s thalidomide was a sedative and was sold in over 40 countries and was prescribed to pregnant women to combat morning sickness, until they discovered its serious effects on the foetuses.

The supply of thalidomide in the third and eighth weeks of gestation caused multiple heart defects, auditory, gastrointestinal and malformed limbs in more than 10,000 children, many of whom were born without legs or no arms.

However, the drug is increasingly used today, albeit under strict controls, to treat leprosy and multiple myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer.

The mechanism of the drugs action was a mystery until now. "Our study will help to develop safer derivatives of thalidomide or alternative medicines," said Handa.



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