C&EN Global Enterprise
March 7, 2022
Bethany Halford
Psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin and MDMA are emerging as potential treatments for mental illnesses like major depressive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. Some companies aim to bring these drugs to market, while others seek to eliminate their hallucinogenic effects through chemistry, a controversial approach. Ancient civilizations used these substances as spiritual guides, and counterculture embraced them for consciousness alteration, but governments once demonized them. After decades of being considered too politically charged for scientific study, psychedelics are now poised to enter mainstream medicine as treatments for intractable mental illness.
C&EN Global Enterprise
February 7, 2022
Bethany Halford
A structural biology approach reveals how hallucinogenic and nonhallucinogenic molecules bind to the 5-HT 2A serotonin receptor, a target for LSD and psilocybin that also treats mood disorders. By determining crystal structures of the receptor bound to LSD, psilocin, serotonin, or lisuride, researchers visualized differences in binding and designed molecules that may retain mood-altering effects without causing hallucinations.
C&EN Global Enterprise
December 18, 2020
Bethany Halford
Chemists have created a new molecule, tabernanthalog, by systematically modifying the structure of the psychedelic compound ibogaine. Tabernanthalog has a simpler structure, making it easier to synthesize, and may someday be used to treat neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and addiction. The researchers, based in David E. Olson’s lab at the University of California, Davis, believe psychedelics can regrow neurons and reestablish synaptic connections in brain areas that degenerate in these illnesses. They aimed to engineer a compound that lacks the hallucinogenic effects of psychedelics like ketamine, which requires medical supervision, while retaining therapeutic benefits.