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Networking for new drugs

Nature Medicine volume 17, pages 1166–1168 (2011)Cite this article

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Many of today's most celebrated drugs are designed to hit only one biological target with great precision. But a novel clinical trial aims to turn this idea on its head by using 'network pharmacology' to more effectively tackle a common neurological disorder affecting limb movement. Claire Ainsworth looks into how medicine's proverbial 'magic bullet' might soon give way to a more sophisticated arsenal.

The approach, called network pharmacology, is very different from the current 'targeted' method of drug discovery. To design targeted medicines, researchers typically identify a single protein they believe causes the disease and then design a small molecule that binds exclusively to this target. Network pharmacologists take a very different tack. Rather than focusing exclusively on single proteins or individual biochemical pathways, they look at the bigger picture and target the myriad networks of interactions between the molecules in our cells.

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  1. Claire Ainsworth is a science journalist based in Southampton, UK.,

    Claire Ainsworth

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  1. Claire Ainsworth
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Ainsworth, C. Networking for new drugs. Nat Med 17, 1166–1168 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1011-1166

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