Showing revision #17a32154 of page makemedicine

Making Medicine

  1. Introduction

  2. Synthesising medicinal compounds

    1. Organic Chemistry - Background knowledge

    2. Genetics & Biology- Background knowledge

      1. ESTRADIOL

  3. Growing and harvesting medicine

    1. Methods

      1. Poultice

      2. Powder

      3. Teas and infusions

Introduction

There are many reasons to make medicine. Often, paywalls and intellectual property laws make the production of medicine unobtainable. In some cases, medicine is outright banned, or restricted from being given to those who need it, like those that induce abortions, heal trans people, are deemed "narcotics", or act as contraceptives.

For those of us who think this is bullshit, the options are clear: gripe in a silence of action, illicitly divert the supply, or make your own.

Synthesising medicinal compounds

Some of the pioneers of the new wave of underground chemists include 4 Thieves Vinegar, a collective which created 3D-printers which conduct chemical syntheses relatively autonomously. (PUT LINK)

This section will focus on agglomerating information by compound. So you can just skip to the section which is relevant to you. One thing to keep in mind is, you really need a solid background in organic chemistry & genetics to understand and process all of this information. So the first section will be the "synthesis" of a basic Organic Chemistry knowledge from free resources online plus some editorializing by myself (and whichever of you want to help).

While the discipline of chemistry is difficult, don't fret! Many people who have been disserved by the educational system or otherwise denied an opportunity for an education, are under the mistaken impression this stuff is unlearnable or out of their reach. To the contrary, many people are able to understand and apply these concepts, given time, commitment, and access. While we can't supply you with the former 2, we hope to be able to expand the latter to anyone who wants it, and many highly educated teachers have created fantastic resources to push back against the siloing of knowledge in the ivory tower.

While the difficulty is real, and there are many barriers to our success, we hope to facilitate and participate in a space of learning, where we push past what we think is possible, hold space and solidarity for our struggles, and celebrate our underappreciated shared capacity for scientific endeavor and effective praxis.

Organic Chemistry - Background knowledge

Genetics & Biology- Background knowledge

ESTRADIOL

There are two ways that come to mind, generally speaking, of approaching the problem of chemical synthesis.

Growing and harvesting medicine

Many of the modern-Western pharmaceuticals are extracts from plants or fungi, including well-known examples like taxol (from yew), opium (extracted from Papaver somniferum, the breadseed poppy), atropine (extracted from Solanaceae plants, notably Atropa belladonna), penicillin (from Penicillium moulds). But modern-Western medicine draws from only a fraction of the countless medicines that exist in the world, most of them known to the people familiar with the plant- and fungus-people who make them in their bodies.

It should be known that these natural medicines are safe and effective to varying degrees, and affect different people differently, just as with isolate-based medicine. For instance, drinking tea of vervain does not induce sleep for me, but instead makes me tired all the next day, and pine and yarrow do next to nothing for me when it comes to colds. But these are not universal: safe experimentation is essential for figuring out which medicines work for which purposes.

Methods

Poultice

A poultice is a preparation of herbs which are crushed up and held against the skin, and usually held there by a cloth. Poultices are much easier to make than salves and don't exclude an herb's polar compounds, but they are not quite as easy to keep in place.

One example here is Self-heal or Prunella vulgaris, a diminutive herb in the mint family whose habitat is moist paths and other shadier disturbed areas. Crushed between the fingers, the aerial parts of the plant can be applied to insect bites to stop the itching.

For poultices of roots and twigs from shrubs, it is often the bark that is used, and not the wood. Removing the wood and keeping the bark makes the making of poultices easier and more effective.

Powder

Sometimes, drying and crushing herbs can be useful for storing, or using them. One particular example is yarrow, because of their propensity to immediately stop the flow of blood and induce healing. It is always helpful to have yarrow around in case of injury, and crushed into a powder, they can be stored into winter or taken into places where they aren't likely to be encountered.

Teas and infusions

This is one of the easiest and most common ways to make medicine: bring water to a boil, mix with herbs, and allow the herbs to infuse into the water before drinking it. A distinction is sometimes made between hot and cold infusions and decoctions, in regards to their uses.


Source code

# Introduction

There are many reasons to make medicine. Often, paywalls and intellectual property laws make the production of medicine unobtainable. In some cases, medicine is outright banned, or restricted from being given to those who need it, like those that induce abortions, heal trans people, are deemed "narcotics", or act as contraceptives. 



For those of us who think this is bullshit, the options are clear: gripe in a silence of action, illicitly divert the supply, or make your own.

# Synthesising medicinal compounds

Some of the pioneers of the new wave of underground chemists include 4 Thieves Vinegar, a collective which created 3D-printers which conduct chemical syntheses relatively autonomously. (PUT LINK)

This section will focus on agglomerating information by compound. So you can just skip to the section which is relevant to you. One thing to keep in mind is, you really need a solid background in organic chemistry & genetics to understand and process all of this information. So the first section will be the "synthesis" of a basic Organic Chemistry knowledge from free resources online plus some editorializing by myself (and whichever of you want to help).

While the discipline of chemistry is difficult, don't fret! Many people who have been disserved by the educational system or otherwise denied an opportunity for an education, are under the mistaken impression this stuff is unlearnable or out of their reach. To the contrary, many people are able to understand and apply these concepts, given time, commitment, and access. While we can't supply you with the former 2, we hope to be able to expand the latter to anyone who wants it, and many highly educated teachers have created fantastic resources to push back against the siloing of knowledge in the ivory tower.

While the difficulty is real, and there are many barriers to our success, we hope to facilitate and participate in a space of learning, where we push past what we think is possible, hold space and solidarity for our struggles, and celebrate our underappreciated shared capacity for scientific endeavor and effective praxis.

## Organic Chemistry - Background knowledge

## Genetics & Biology- Background knowledge

### ESTRADIOL

There are two ways that come to mind, generally speaking, of approaching the problem of chemical synthesis.

# Growing and harvesting medicine

Many of the modern-Western pharmaceuticals are extracts from plants or fungi, including well-known examples like taxol (from yew), opium (extracted from *Papaver somniferum*, the breadseed poppy), atropine (extracted from Solanaceae plants, notably *Atropa belladonna*), penicillin (from *Penicillium* moulds). But modern-Western medicine draws from only a fraction of the countless medicines that exist in the world, most of them known to the people familiar with the plant- and fungus-people who make them in their bodies. 

It should be known that these natural medicines are safe and effective to varying degrees, and affect different people differently, just as with isolate-based medicine. For instance, drinking tea of vervain does not induce sleep for me, but instead makes me tired all the next day, and pine and yarrow do next to nothing for me when it comes to colds. But these are not universal: safe experimentation is essential for figuring out which medicines work for which purposes.

## Methods

### Poultice

A poultice is a preparation of herbs which are crushed up and held against the skin, and usually held there by a cloth. Poultices are much easier to make than salves and don't exclude an herb's polar compounds, but they are not quite as easy to keep in place.

One example here is Self-heal or *Prunella vulgaris*, a diminutive herb in the mint family whose habitat is moist paths and other shadier disturbed areas. Crushed between the fingers, the aerial parts of the plant can be applied to insect bites to stop the itching.

For poultices of roots and twigs from shrubs, it is often the bark that is used, and not the wood. Removing the wood and keeping the bark makes the making of poultices easier and more effective.

### Powder

Sometimes, drying and crushing herbs can be useful for storing, or using them. One particular example is yarrow, because of their propensity to immediately stop the flow of blood and induce healing. It is always helpful to have yarrow around in case of injury, and crushed into a powder, they can be stored into winter or taken into places where they aren't likely to be encountered.

### Teas and infusions

This is one of the easiest and most common ways to make medicine: bring water to a boil, mix with herbs, and allow the herbs to infuse into the water before drinking it. A distinction is sometimes made between hot and cold infusions and decoctions, in regards to their uses.