Preamble
Drug Discovery Research Center
Every disease starts at the molecular
level. Thus, ultimately ever cure has to be achieved at the molecular
level. This recognition leads us inevitably to the direction of
Molecular Medicine.
A great deal of progress is expected to occur
after the completion of the Human Genome Project. However, even if all
the possible information is extracted from the genes, it does not give
us the 3D structure of proteins. Thus, we still have no information as
to the folding to a functional form, of enzymes and receptors, among
many other biologically important molecular arrays. Beyond such basic
information, one would also need to know how drug molecules are
complexed with these enzymes and receptors.
Finally, some additional
mechanistic information related to pre- or post-complexation metabolic
reactions, may also be needed. Even though some experimental techniques
(X-Ray, NMR, etc.) are available, in the future more and more
computations will be used to generate increasingly more accurate
results, for a decreasing expense. This will eventually open up a new
avenue: Computational Molecular Medicine.
We are eager to integrate
our results with biochemical and molecular-biological data, either
collected in our laboratory or available through collaboration with
specialists in the field. There are always biological structures
undergoing computational studies in the laboratory.