Editing Pharmacology (section)

== History ==
{{main|List of drugs by year of discovery|History of pharmacy}}
[[File:Raw_opium.jpg|thumb|200px|Naturally derived [[opium]] from [[Papaver somniferum|opium poppies]] has been used as a drug since before 1100 BCE.<ref name="Kritikos">{{cite journal|title=The early history of the poppy and opium| vauthors = Kritikos PG, Papadaki SP  |journal=Journal of the Archaeological Society of Athens|date=January 1, 1967}}</ref>]]
[[File:Morphin_-_Morphine.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|200px|Opium's major active constituent, [[morphine]], was first isolated in 1804 and is now known to act as an [[opioid agonist]].<ref name=Luch2009>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-7643-8336-7 |page=20 |url={{GBurl|MtOiLVWBn8cC|p=20}} |date=2009 |isbn=978-3-7643-8335-0 |title=Molecular, Clinical and Environmental Toxicology |series=Experientia Supplementum |volume=99 |publisher=Birkhäuser Basel |location=Basel |editor1-first=Andreas |editor1-last=Luch }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | first = Friedrich | last = Sertürner | name-list-style = vanc | date = 1805 | url = {{GBurl|8A09AAAAcAAJ|p=229}} | title = Untitled letter to the editor | journal = Journal der Pharmacie für Aerzte, Apotheker und Chemisten (Journal of Pharmacy for Physicians, Apothecaries, and Chemists) | volume = 13 | pages = 229–243 }}; see especially "III.  Säure im Opium" (acid in opium), pp. 234–235, and  "I.  Nachtrag zur Charakteristik der Säure im Opium" (Addendum on the characteristics of the acid in opium), pp. 236–241.</ref>]]
The origins of [[clinical pharmacology]] date back to the [[Middle Ages]], with [[pharmacognosy]] and [[Avicenna]]'s ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'', [[Peter of Spain (author)|Peter of Spain]]'s ''Commentary on Isaac'', and [[John of St Amand]]'s ''Commentary on the Antedotary of Nicholas''.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Brater DC, Daly WJ | title = Clinical pharmacology in the Middle Ages: principles that presage the 21st century | journal = Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics | volume = 67 | issue = 5 | pages = 447–50 | date = May 2000 | pmid = 10824622 | doi = 10.1067/mcp.2000.106465 }}</ref> Early pharmacology focused on [[herbalism]] and natural substances, mainly plant extracts. Medicines were compiled in books called [[pharmacopoeia]]s. [[Crude drug]]s have been used since prehistory as a preparation of substances from natural sources. However, the [[active ingredient]] of crude drugs are not purified and the substance is adulterated with other substances.

[[Traditional medicine]] varies between cultures and may be specific to a particular culture, such as in traditional [[Traditional Chinese Medicine|Chinese]], [[Traditional Mongolian medicine|Mongolian]], [[Traditional Tibetan medicine|Tibetan]] and [[Traditional Korean medicine|Korean medicine]]. However much of this has since been regarded as [[pseudoscience]]. Pharmacological substances known as [[entheogen]]s may have spiritual and religious use and historical context.

In the 17th century, the English physician [[Nicholas Culpeper]] translated and used pharmacological texts. Culpeper detailed plants and the conditions they could treat. In the 18th century, much of clinical pharmacology was established by the work of [[William Withering]].<ref>{{cite book | first = Mannfred A. | last = Hollinger | name-list-style = vanc | date = 2003 | url = {{GBurl|bx-WfLwrVH8C|p=4}} | title = Introduction to pharmacology | publisher = [[CRC Press]] | page = 4 | isbn = 0-415-28033-8 }}</ref> Pharmacology as a scientific discipline did not further advance until the mid-19th century amid the great biomedical resurgence of that period.<ref name="rang2006">{{cite journal | vauthors = Rang HP | title = The receptor concept: pharmacology's big idea | journal = British Journal of Pharmacology | volume = 147 Suppl 1 | issue = S1 | pages = S9-16 | date = January 2006 | pmid = 16402126 | pmc = 1760743 | doi = 10.1038/sj.bjp.0706457 }}</ref> Before the second half of the nineteenth century, the remarkable potency and specificity of the actions of drugs such as [[morphine]], [[quinine]] and [[digitalis]] were explained vaguely and with reference to extraordinary chemical powers and affinities to certain organs or tissues.<ref name="AHM2002">{{cite journal | vauthors = Maehle AH, Prüll CR, Halliwell RF | title = The emergence of the drug receptor theory | journal = Nature Reviews. Drug Discovery | volume = 1 | issue = 8 | pages = 637–41 | date = August 2002 | pmid = 12402503 | doi = 10.1038/nrd875 }}</ref> The first pharmacology department was set up by [[Rudolf Buchheim]] in 1847, at University of Tartu, in recognition of the need to understand how therapeutic drugs and poisons produced their effects.<ref name="rang2006" /> Subsequently, the first [[Department of Pharmacology at University College London, 1905 – 2007|pharmacology department]] in [[England]] was set up in 1905 at [[University College London]].

Pharmacology developed in the 19th century as a biomedical science that applied the principles of scientific experimentation to therapeutic contexts.<ref name="rang">{{cite book|title=Pharmacology| vauthors = Rang HP, Dale MM, Ritter JM, Flower RJ |publisher=[[Elsevier]]|year=2007|isbn=978-0-443-06911-6|location=[[China]]}}</ref> The advancement of research techniques propelled pharmacological research and understanding. The development of the [[organ bath]] preparation, where tissue samples are connected to recording devices, such as a [[myograph]], and physiological responses are recorded after drug application, allowed analysis of drugs' effects on tissues. The development of the [[ligand binding assay]] in 1945 allowed quantification of the [[affinity constant|binding affinity]] of drugs at chemical targets.<ref name=MWP2>{{cite book|title=Ligand-binding assays development, validation, and implementation in the drug development arena|year=2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Hoboken, N.J.|isbn=978-0470541494|editor1=Masood N. Khan |editor2=John W. Findlay }}</ref> Modern pharmacologists use techniques from [[genetics]], [[molecular biology]], [[biochemistry]], and other advanced tools to transform information about molecular mechanisms and targets into therapies directed against disease, defects or pathogens, and create methods for preventive care, diagnostics, and ultimately [[personalized medicine]].