In the late 1950s and early 1960s more than ten thousand deformed babies were born to mothers who had taken Thalidomide for morning sickness. The deformities were major: infants were born without limbs, had small hands extended out from the shoulders, and many children lacked eyes and ears. Most cases occurred in Europe, as the drug did not pass Food and Drug Administration (FDA) screening procedures in the United States. Subsequent research showed that thalidomide blocked the formation of new blood vessels and slowed the immune-system production of a chemical called Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). The first effect accounted for the disastrous consequences to the developing fetus, but the drug had potential benefits for people with cancer or other diseases where new vessel growth causes trouble. The ability to stop production of TNF-alpha has the potential to be of use in treating diseases such as...