Multidisciplinary science is all the rage these days. Even{{U}} (31) {{/U}}, the overlap between archaeology and pharmacology is not, at first{{U}} (32) {{/U}}, obvious. But there is a connection. An analytical technique developed for the{{U}} (33) {{/U}}, used to work out how old things are, is now{{U}} (34) {{/U}}used in the latter, to see if promising drugs are likely to fail{{U}} (35) {{/U}}expensive clinical trials are undertaken.
At the{{U}} (36) {{/U}}, a third of drug candidates do not pass such trials. This may be{{U}} (37) {{/U}}they fail to reach the part of the body where they are{{U}} (38) {{/U}}to work—many molecules, for{{U}} (39) {{/U}}, cannot cross from the bloodstream into the brain. Or it may be that the body breaks down the active ingredients before the drug has time to act. Identifying{{U}} (40) {{/U}}problems early in the testing process would be a boon. Trials on{{U}} (41) {{/U}}can help, but how other species react is not always a good indication of how people will. What is needed is a way of testing potential drugs on people,{{U}} (42) {{/U}}in a way that cannot possibly cause any harm. That is{{U}} (43) {{/U}}the archaeologists come in.
{{U}} (44) {{/U}}decades, archaeologists have used a technique called carbon dating to work{{U}} (45) {{/U}}how old their finds are. Some of the carbon dioxide absorbed by plants during photosynthesis is{{U}} (46) {{/U}}. That is because it contains carbon atoms which are{{U}} (47) {{/U}}than run-of-the-mill carbon, and are unstable. The radioactive carbon atoms weigh 14 atomic units,{{U}} (48) {{/U}}nm-of-the-mill ones weigh 12 units. Food grains, scraps of cloth and so on can thus be dated by finding out how{{U}} (49) {{/U}}radioactive carbon is left in them: the less there is, the{{U}} (50) {{/U}}they are. (278 words)