From anti-cancer to antibiotic, high throughput screening is a powerful method of drug discovery. Researchers identify a target protein and test tens if not hundreds of thousands of chemicals for their ability to inhibit its function in the lab setting. Then, they whittle the chemical pool to a handful of “hits” that serve as chemical precursors to safe, effective drugs.
But these screens are cost-, time- and labor-intensive. What if there were a way to screen these molecules, or even more molecules, at a lower cost but just as accurately?
Enter the machines, and virtual screening.
Read the full article at: https://uwmadscience.news.wisc.edu/basic-science/the-machines-are-learning-to-develop-new-targeted-drug-therapies/