drug discovery

New tool for mining bacterial genome for novel drugs
01/25/2013 - 13:45

Vanderbilt biochemists have discovered that the process bacteria undergo when they become drug resistant can act as a powerful tool for drug discovery. Their findings – reported this week in the Online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences – should give a major boost to natural products drug discovery – the process of finding new drugs from compounds isolated from living organisms – by substantially increasing the number of novel compounds that scientists can extract from individual microorganisms.

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New technique could identify drugs that help fight broad range of viruses
05/04/2012 - 16:57

Results of a new study demonstrate the feasibility of a novel strategy in drug discovery: screening large numbers of existing drugs — often already approved for other uses — to see which ones activate genes that boost natural immunity.  Using an automated, high-volume screening technique, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a cancer drug that enhances an important natural response to viral infection in human cells.

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In Autism, Gene Findings May Help Explain Biology and Guide Drug Discovery
02/06/2012 - 23:44

Autism and related disorders that profoundly affect behavior and development are diagnosed more often today than ever before. But despite its rising profile in the media and in the minds of parents, still little is known about what causes autism. Confronted by this stubborn mystery, Lauren Weiss, PhD, a researcher with the UCSF Institute for Human Genetics and Department of Psychiatry, is nonetheless optimistic.

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Survey Reveals Scientists Have Trouble Accessing Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines
12/12/2011 - 13:47

The promise of stem cell research for drug discovery and cell-based therapies depends on the ability of scientists to acquire stem cell lines for their research. A survey of more than 200 human embryonic stem cell researchers in the United States found that nearly four in ten researchers have faced excessive delay in acquiring a human embryonic stem cell line and that more than one-quarter were unable to acquire a line they wanted to study.

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Scripps Research Scientists Develop Brand New Class of Small Molecules through Innovative Chemistry
11/21/2011 - 10:17

Inspired by natural products, scientists on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have created a new class of small molecules with the potential to serve as a rich foundation for drug discovery.

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New way to target – and kill – proliferating tumors
11/14/2011 - 17:01

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center have identified a new drug discovery approach enabling the destruction of the most highly proliferative tumors. The discovery, published in Sunday's (Nov. 13) online issue of the journal Nature Medicine, points to an effective, alternative method for killing fast-growing cancer cells without causing some of the negative effects of current therapies.

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