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High-throughput screening has become increasingly important in academic research over the last decade. The diversity of chemical and biological space being probed by academic chemical screening, coupled with the public reporting of results, has created an important new resource of data for chemical biologists.
A new division of The Scripps Research Institute that is dedicated to biomedical research and drug discovery is taking shape on the shores of southern Florida.
Publications reporting results of small-molecule screens are becoming more common as academic researchers increasingly make use of high-throughput screening (HTS) facilities. However, no standards have been formally established for reporting small-molecule screening data, and often key information important for the evaluation and interpretation of results is omitted in published HTS protocols. Here, we propose concise guidelines for reporting small-molecule HTS data.
The chemical scaffolds from which screening libraries are built have strong influence on the libraries' utility for screening campaigns. Here we present analysis of the scaffold composition of several types of commercially available screening collections and compare those compositions to those of drugs and drug candidates.
The increasing availability of data related to genes, proteins and their modulation by small molecules has provided a vast amount of biological information leading to the emergence of systems biology and the broad use of simulation tools for data analysis. However, there is a critical need to develop cheminformatics tools that can integrate chemical knowledge with these biological databases and simulation approaches, with the goal of creating systems chemical biology.
Understanding the creation, induction and function of natural products that are important for microbial communication are central aims for scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute.
Natural products research focuses on the chemical properties, biosynthesis and biological functions of secondary metabolites. As our scientific understanding of all things 'natural' is rapidly expanding, we should also make time to communicate the subtleties of chemical distinctions to the public.
Biosynthetic pathways for secondary metabolites usually make many products, not just one. In this Commentary, we consider why molecular promiscuity might be an evolutionarily advantageous feature of these pathways.
Project ownership is an essential but sometimes overlooked ingredient for a successful undergraduate research experience. We have embarked on an experiment in undergraduate education that targets isolation of microbes from rainforest plants and characterization of natural products as objectives for discovery-based undergraduate research.
Mixtures of interacting compounds produced by plants may provide important combination therapies that simultaneously affect multiple pharmacological targets and provide clinical efficacy beyond the reach of single compound–based drugs. Developing innovative scientific methods for discovery, validation, characterization and standardization of these multicomponent botanical therapeutics is essential to their acceptance into mainstream medicine.
Nature Chemical Biology is committed to enhancing interdisciplinary communication and features online content to increase the accessibility of chemical information for our readers.
African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans are significantly underrepresented in chemistry and related sciences. An innovative approach based on course revision, peer support, precollege training and strong mentoring offers promise for engaging and retaining more underrepresented minority students and more members of the majority population in these fields.
