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Glossary

Selected words and phrases

dual therapy – using 2 drugs together.

biopsy – taking a small sample of body tissue for examination and testing in the laboratory.

mitochondria – energy producing factories that live inside other cells.

in vitro – a study in a test tube. Literally, ‘in glass’.

T1/2 (half-life) –  the time taken a drug to clear from the highest concentration to half this level. Drugs have different half-lives in different compartments (ie half-life in blood can be different from the half-life inside a cell). It take 5 x the half-live for a drug to be considered cleared.

What happens when you take a drug?