Focus


Focus on drug discovery

The development of new therapeutic agents has required the close collaboration of chemists and biologists in identifying drug targets or lead compounds and developing them toward the clinic. This month we include a series of articles that focus on how chemical biologists in academic and industrial settings enhance our understanding of biological systems and advance the next generation of therapeutic agents.

Top

In This Issue

Focus on drug discovery

In This Issue pv

doi:10.1038/nchembio1206-v


Top

Editorial

Focus on drug discovery

Frontiers in drug discovery p645

doi:10.1038/nchembio1206-645

Integrating chemistry and biology in the search for the next generation of therapeutics.


Top

Commentaries

Focus on drug discovery

Smart drug discovery leveraging innovative technologies and predictive knowledge pp646 - 648

Tomi K Sawyer

doi:10.1038/nchembio1206-646

By building on the successes of the past and leveraging both innovative technologies and predictive knowledge, scientists can develop smarter ways to create a molecular armamentarium of chemical and biological medicines.


Focus on drug discovery

Drug discovery through industry-academic partnerships pp649 - 653

Nathanael S Gray

doi:10.1038/nchembio1206-649

Translational research in academia is extending beyond the traditional involvement in clinical trials to the early phases of the drug discovery process. Examples of successful academic-industrial partnerships illustrate the ways in which they can enable the discovery of new medicines.


Top

Elements

Focus on drug discovery

Stuart Levy p655

Joanne Kotz

doi:10.1038/nchembio1206-655

Seeking to maintain a supply of effective antibiotics, Stuart Levy combines research in microbiology and antibiotic drug discovery with a strong commitment to public communication.


Focus on drug discovery

Marlene Haffner p657

Catherine Goodman

doi:10.1038/nchembio1206-657

As head of the Office of Orphan Products Development, Marlene Haffner offers a perspective on the immense influence the Orphan Drug Act has had in promoting research on and awareness of rare diseases.


Top

Perspectives


Focus on drug discovery

Production of isoprenoid pharmaceuticals by engineered microbes pp674 - 681

Michelle C Y Chang & Jay D Keasling

doi:10.1038/nchembio836


Focus on drug discovery

Synthetic therapeutic antibodies pp682 - 688

Sachdev S Sidhu & Frederic A Fellouse

doi:10.1038/nchembio843


Top

Reviews

Focus on drug discovery

New approaches to molecular cancer therapeutics pp689 - 700

Ian Collins & Paul Workman

doi:10.1038/nchembio840



Focus on drug discovery

RNAi therapeutics: a potential new class of pharmaceutical drugs pp711 - 719

David Bumcrot, Muthiah Manoharan, Victor Koteliansky & Dinah W Y Sah

doi:10.1038/nchembio839


Top

Extra navigation

natureevents