# We need better drugs -- now

- Institution: TED
- Department: TEDMED 2012
- Speaker: Francis Collins
- Year: 2012
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: Biology, Medicine and health, Engineering
- Source: [TED](https://www.ted.com/talks/francis_collins_we_need_better_drugs_now)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions.)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

Today we know the molecular cause of 4,000 diseases, but treatments are available for only 250 of them. So what's taking so long? Geneticist and physician Francis Collins explains why systematic drug discovery is imperative, even for rare and complex diseases, and offers a few solutions -- like teaching old drugs new tricks.

## Lectures

1. [We need better drugs -- now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/ted/francis_collins_we_need_better_drugs_now/1c0e25c031ff), 15 min (TED's player)