ABSTRACT

Drug discovery traditionally has been understood in two steps: (a) target identification and screen development and (b) drug lead identification and optimization. The first step involves understanding the biological basis for a disease, including the natural pathways and biochemical reactions, along with the deviations that cause the disease. A target protein or receptor is often identified, and a screening method is devised to determine when the activity of that target is modulated by the presence of a potential drug molecule. The fields of genomics and proteomics have contributed greatly to this process over the last several years, allowing a much greater understanding of the biological entities involved in many healthy and diseased pathways.