The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7241 p414
22 March 2003

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Back to Snow [more]
Neglected zinc [more]
Fountain of youth [more]

Back to Snow

In 1959 C. P. Snow, the novelist and physicist, enunciated his concept of "the two cultures" to describe the dichotomy between science on the one hand and literature or the humanities on the other. Snow's contribution to moral philosophy was his insistence that closer contact and understanding between those studying these independent branches of knowledge must be achieved. His criticism was prompted by the advent of an epoch intoxicated to an unhealthy degree by scientific advances.

The concept of two cultures in competition has been revived by Donald Kennedy in an editorial comment published in Science for 21 February. In this he directs our attention to the serious separation recently developing between the two cultures of science and military security, a situation that has arisen because of the threat that terrorist organisations could pose if they gained access to certain research findings, particularly aspects of "weapons of mass destruction".

The problem, as we know, has developed some political aspects that threaten serious sharing of important research of a fundamental nature. When he expressed his two culture idea, Snow's concern was that science and the humanities had become so divided from each other within the academic world that many students in one discipline could no longer understand those in the others, thus producing an unhealthy social divide.

Kennedy points out that tension has become particularly worrying in researchers working in microbiology or biomedicine. Unfortunately, scientific discoveries more often than not have a dual potential. They are helpful when properly used by morally responsible people, they may do much harm if they get into the hands of those eager to misuse them for political or economic gain.

There is nothing new in this notion of dual purpose, according to intention. So simple an object as a knife is almost indispensable as an aid to living, but in the hands of an evil-doer is capable of serious or lethal wounding. Many other tools of civilisation share this dual capability. We do well to reflect that therapeutic agents capable of bringing relief to some suffering disorders of mind or body are equally capable of undermining health or causing suffering if misapplied, either by accident or ignorance, or deliberately. Motor vehicles, which most of us find indispensable in our daily journeys, are also lethal weapons when in incapable or malicious hands.

There are some scientific applications and technical developments for which no possible moral justification can be made. Is it not time that we could agree to outlaw some materials or devices for which a sane and educated individual could find no bona fide application?

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Neglected zinc

It is rather strange, I feel, that the role of zinc in both plant and animal life and health has been neglected until recently. Yet this cation plays a part in the functioning of some hundred enzyme systems, helping to regulate activation of genes and synthesis of proteins through hormonal activity.

Zinc is derived from red meat, seafood, yeast, cereal grains, eggs and cheese. Unfortunately, some three-quarters of this source may be denied the eater through food processing. The recommended daily intake of zinc is 15mg, which is also the suggested daily upper limit over the long term.

An editorial by Ananda S. Prasad of Wayne State University, published in the BMJ for 22 February, states that it used to be thought that zinc deficiency in humans could not occur, but this opinion has recently undergone revision. The consumption of cereal foods rich in phytate reduces the availability of both iron and zinc. Individuals suffering from acrodermatitis enteropathica, a lethal genetic disorder in which zinc in the diet is not absorbed, have been cured by zinc supplementation. Zinc deficiency is associated also with malabsorption syndrome, chronic liver disease, sickle cell disease, diabetes and malignancies, where other trace elements and vitamins also may be lacking in the diet. Macular degeneration and loss of sight in the elderly may be the result of zinc deficiency. In Wilson's disease (hepatolenticular degeneration), which involves an inborn defect of copper metabolism, zinc therapy brings relief. Even the common cold is relieved by zinc supplementation.

Professor Prasad comments that although the zinc deficiency problem has been known for 40 years, almost no attention has been paid to the growth retardation, increased susceptibility to infection and impaired cognitive ability commonly encountered in developing countries. The World Health Organization, he maintains, should turn its attention to the situation and insist on measures calculated to improve the individual dietary uptake of zinc.

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Fountain of youth

Once upon a time adventurers keenly sought a fountain credited with the power of restoring youth to body and mind, traditionally thought to be in the Bahamas. The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, who was appointed governor of Puerto Rico in 1510, undertook a search for the fabulous fountain, but failed in his quest. Instead, he discovered Florida in 1512. Considering that Florida is sought by many aged United States citizens, this seems apt.

Today, we seek rejuvenation not through mythical fountains but in tablet or capsule form. In Chemistry in Britain for February, Professor James Wright of Ottawa reviews some aspects of the search for antioxidants that reduce cell damage and retard senescence as a consequence. The great popularity of ascorbic acid until recently as a dietary supplement has given way to the claims for D-alpha-tocopherol, so that vitamin E surges ahead of vitamin C for many people. Both are powerful antioxidants that intercept free radicals before they can react with substrates in the cell.

Tocopherol is a good antioxidant for oleic and linoleic acids, since it reacts faster with peroxyl radicals than do the lipids. It is judged to be the best naturally occurring lipid-soluble antioxidant. Ascorbic acid plays a part in this reaction, since it aids tocopherol replenishment of at the site of activity.

Research has revealed many other antioxidants, including resveratrol in red wines, gallocatechins in tea, ubiquinol, catechols, pyrogallols and others. The most active such compound so far discovered is a naphthalenediol derivative some thousand times more active against the free radical diphenylpicrylhydrazyl than is vitamin E.

Antioxidants having possible neuroprotective effects against oxidative stress in nerve cells are under investigation and it is to be hoped that they will have some effect in retarding the ageing process. Meanwhile, many people will continue to take supplementary vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene and other naturally occurring antioxidants in the hope of staving off the ravages of time.

Yet we cannot disagree with Sir Walter Raleigh (1618): "Even such is Time, which takes in trust / Our youth, our joys, and all we have / And pays us but with age and dust ...".

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