The evolutionary safety of mutagenic drugs should be assessed before drug approval

by Gabriela Lobinska, Vyacheslav Tretyachenko, Orna Dahan, Martin A. Nowak, Yitzhak Pilpel

Some drugs increase the mutation rate of their target pathogen, a potentially concerning mechanism as the pathogen might evolve faster toward an undesired phenotype. We suggest a four-step assessment of evolutionary safety for the approval of such treatments.

Some drugs increase the mutation rate of their target pathogen, raising the concern that they might thereby increase the pathogen ’s rate of adaptation. This Perspective article proposes a four-step process to evaluate the evolutionary safety of new treatments, calling on regulatory authorities to take this into account before approval for widespread use.

Source: PLoS Biology: Archived Table of Contents - March 15, 2024 Category: Biology Authors: Gabriela Lobinska Source Type: research