WEB-ресурс научно-практических конференций

Kuchumova N.

Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University , Ukraine

SCIENCE DEVELOPMENT AND ENRICHMENT OF ENGLISH PHARMACEUTICAL GLOSSARY

L anguage has a natural capacity to mark the historical and cultural changes of a community. Ideas, thoughts, inventions, values are recorded in our language through the vocabulary that moves in and out of use. Neologisms are constantly entering the lexicon and older words are falling out of use. Since the industrial revolution the world has seen massive shifts in the way we live and by extension how we talk about the world. By far science and technology are the most prolific sources of neologisms in recent times. With the increasing pace of scientific advancements, there is a vast number of novel terms not recorded in dictionaries. Medical and pharmaceutical glossaries are being considerably enriched due to the latest scientific achievements.

So, biological sciences, namely biotechnology and genetic engineering , extensively added to the sphere of lexical growth. One of the success stories of biotechnology has been the creation of transgenic plants or animals which contain genes transferred from some other organism. A common term in the industry for c ultivating pharmaceuticals by using genetically modified plants is “ pharming ” , a punning blend of “pharmaceutical” and “farming”. The term may have originated in the name of the company Gene Pharming Europe , now called Pharming Health Care Products , which bred the transgenic bull in 1990 and now plans to milk rabbits to harvest a drug against Pompe’s disease, a rare genetic disorder. The derived term “ pharm ” is sometimes employed , usually attributively, in such phrases as “ pharm products”. Correspondingly, a scientist who creates pharmaceutical products by incorporating modified DNA into the cells of plant or animal, was named “ pharmer ” (short for “pharmaceutical farmer” ). The neologism “ biofactory ” was coined to indicate the institutions dealing with “ biopharmacy ” . To express the process of growing genetically modified plants the terms “to pharm ” , “ molecular farming ” , “ biopharming ” or “bio- pharming ” are employed.

Due to genetic engineering new medications, called “ biopharmaceuticals” , appeared. Producing such medicines is expressed by a neologism “ biomanufacturing ” . A common notion “bio-similar drugs” or “bio- similars ” emerged: “ Getting into business of making bio-similar drugs, as such generics are called, will not be easy….The substantial cost of clinical trials could greatly lower the profits in bio- similars …”(The Economist, October 11, 2003). The drug industry has been using the term “ biosimilar ” for several years, but it is only now beginning to appear more widely, in part as a result of the recent approval of the first drug of this type by the European Commision , as well as through attempts to create a regulatory framework for them in the US Congress. A class of drugs that has become available in the last past decades is made by biotechnological processes using living materials such as proteins and enzymes, often genetically engineered and grown in cell cultures. The industry called them “ biopharmaceuticals”, “biologics”, and “biotechnology drugs” . “ Biosimilars ” are generic, non-proprietary, versions of such drugs. Another name for them is “generic biologics”.

Genetically modified plants may produce antibodies called “ plantibodies ” : “… tobacco, a plant responsible for the death of millions, is also the subject of experiments to produce plantibodies , against diseases including, ironically, cancer”. (The Independent, January 19, 2002 ). Among the weird uses for genetic engineering is “contraceptive corn” , that generates antibodies destroying sperm .( The Oregonian, December 25, 2001 ). A strain of rice that has been genetically modified to increase vitamin A content was called “golden rice”: “golden rice” contains transplanted genes to combat vitamin A deficiencies that can cause blindness in millions of children around the globe … ”( The Washington Post, January 24, 2000 ).

A new science, “ pharmacogenomics ”, which deals with studying the effects of common genetic variants on drug response, has emerged. The aim is to work out what the differences between patients’ DNA mean for drug efficiency and to create suitable diagnostic tests. Pharmacologists can then produce drugs that are tailored for patients with a particular genetic sequence and ensure that patients who are susceptible to the side-effects of a drug are not given it. The new word is a combination of “ pharmaco -”, the prefix that relates to the study of medicines, with “genomics”, itself a word too new for most dictionaries, meaning the formal study of the genetic make-up of organisms.

Another novel science, called “nutritional genomics” or “ nutrigenomics ” , investigates the effects of diet on different individuals, groups and populations. “ Nutraceuticals ” or “ nutriceuticals ”, a blend that combines “nutrition” and “pharmaceuticals”, is applied to denote pharmaceutical products possessing nutritional value or a food of nutritional value enhanced by pharmaceuticals: ”… Purists, who stick to the literal definition of nutraceuticals – a combination of nutritional and pharmaceutical product – say these are “bio-engineering foods”, or foods altered for enhanced health benefits. By that definition, the market is embryonic because many such foods are still in laboratories …” (The Financial Post, 1998). Other terms employed are “functional food”, “ pharmafood ” and “ FoSHU ” (Food for Specified health Use”). So, “ prebiotics ” , nondigestible food substances improving health by stimulating the growth or activity of beneficial bacteria within the colon, were invented : “ … An alternative approach to the manipulation of the gut microflora is the use of prebiotics . These are food ingredients that selectively target the colon and may beneficially affect the host…A number of health-promoting properties are associated with bifidobacteria ,… production of vitamins (particularly of the B group) and the production of immunomodulators that may promote immunological attack against malignant cells.” (Food manufacture, April 1995). The terms “ probiotics ” or “ good-for-you-bacteria ” have been around since the beginning of the nineties, but have only slowly started to appear outside technical contexts. They refer to the use of microorganisms in a positive way to benefit health. “ Probiotics ” are being marketed as “live cultures” in yogurt that function “to ensure a healthy intestinal tract, increase calcium absorption and decrease cholesterol.” ( Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 2, 2000).

The use of pharmaceuticals to enhance cognitive function in a healthy brain is termed as “cosmetic neurology”: “…Advances in cognitive neuroscience and neuropharmacology are yielding exciting treatments for neurologic diseases. Many of these treatments are also likely to have uses for people without disease. This medicine may make bodies and brain function better by modulating motor, cognitive and affective systems. These potential “quality of life” interventions raise ethical concerns, some related to the individual and others related to society. ”(The University of Pennsylvania, January 8, 2004 ). Brain-boosting drugs are known by a host of other names, including “ nootropics ” (1976) (from the Greek no- os , “mind” and “ tropos ” , “ a turning” ), “cognitive enhancers” (1984), and “brain steroids” (1985). Another neologism “smart drug” was coined to denote a medication that improves a person’s cognitive abilities. However, there is another sense of this neologism – a drug designed to target a specific type of cell, especially a cancer cell: “ … The new class of cancer drugs, often called “smart” drugs, target this genetic cascade, jamming it up at various points in the process. These drugs draw from recent insights into the genetics of cancer cells, killing cancer cells only, unlike older treatments…At the moment, only a handful of smart drugs are in widespread use, though that may change soon”. (The Boston Globe, July 6, 2003).

A new term “dirt pill” was coined to denote a medicine containing several strains of bacteria designed to stimulate the immune systems of allergic or asthmatic children: “ …Children are to be given a “dirt pill” to provide the germs they missed out on as toddlers as part of a revolutionary treatment for asthma….Asthmatic children would receive daily medication that would include a mixture of probiotic bacteria and antioxidants”. (The Australian, April 27, 2006 )

Scientists introduced a neologism “ nocebo ” (also “ nocebo effect” ) denoting an inert substance that causes harmful effects because the person taking the substance expects those effects. The word is the opposite of “placebo” , an inert substance that causes beneficial effects because the person taking the substance expects those effects :”…A placebo relieves symptoms of illness by creating an expectation of improvement, while a “ nocebo ” does harm by creating the opposite expectation. “ Nocebos ” are not used in medical research, but “ nocebo effects” are quite common .” (Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1997). In Latin “ placebo” means literally “I shall be acceptable or pleasing” , from the verb “ placere ” , “ to please” . It came into medical terminology from liturgical Latin near the end of the eighteenth century. “ Nocebo ”, conversely , is recorded only from the 1990s, and until recently one would not come across it outside specialist research publications. It is obviously modeled on placebo , but it comes instead from “ nocere ” , “to harm” , and so has a literal meaning of “I shall cause harm or be harmful” . The word has come into being because researchers have become aware they also have to take into account factors that might have a negative effect in treatments.

“Bionic technology” is developed which will enable creating brain implants for restoring vision to the blind or mobility to the paralysed . “Phage therapy” applies bacteriophage viruses to kill the bacteria that are causing an illness or infection. The word “phage” is short for “ bacteriophage ” , a virus that invades a bacterial cell and hijacks the cells genetic machinery to make copies of itself . Eventually these replicated viruses fill the cell until it bursts open and releases the viruses. This kills the host cell, which is the whole point of phage therapy: using phages to target and kill specific bacteria cells that cause certain diseases. This will enable scientists to develop treatments that target only the “bad” bacteria while leaving the body’s “good” bacteria alone. (New Scientist, April 5, 2003 )

Thus, scientific advancements can be considered the primary provider of neologisms. Pharmaceutical n eologisms , in their turn , serve a rich resource for understanding not just how medicine and pharmacy are changing but how we are reacting to these changes. Therefore, neologisms can act as valuable markers of both linguistic and scientific changes.

References:

1. http://www.wordspy.com

2. http://worldwidewords.org

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4. Зацний Ю. Сучасний англомовний світ і збагачення словникового складу. – Львів: Паїс , 2007.