Drug Discovery .. (Translation Of Science Into Medicines) Essay

Drug Discovery .. (Translation Of Science Into Medicines) - Essay Example any drug development studies failing to enter clinical practice after spending billions of dollars during their development, the scientific community is taking steps to create a more focused, effective and less expensive methods to develop new drugs (Tho & Graham, 2006). The probability of developing such drugs is becoming increasingly common with advancements in cellular and molecular biology. The field of translational studies involves the use of these latest techniques in drug development prior to their entry in to the clinical trial phase. These techniques help to provide a comprehensive view of the disease, identify molecular targets and then to develop specific drugs that would act against these targets. These lead compounds can be selected from a vast array of chemicals using screening techniques such as chemical library screening. Other techniques used in translational studies are microarray technique which is used to study the expression of genes and the use of genetically e ngineered humanized mouse which is useful in studying the biological responses to drugs in vivo. In addition, toxicology studies reveal potential drug toxicities to major organs such as the liver and the heart. More recent development include the use of computer simulation tools that are helpful in predicting the systemic exposure of the drug within the human body, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics studies to determine the efficacy of the drugs developed, and the development of biomarkers prior to clinical testing of the drug which could help in understanding disease progression and its prognosis (Yu, 2011). The major challenge posed by translational research is integration of data obtained from these various technologies and using them appropriately to determine the effectiveness of clinical studies (Tho & Graham, 2006). 1. Tho, L. M. & Graham, K. (2006) Translational Research- A Multidisciplinary Approach. Annals Academy of Medicine. [Online] 35 (6), 441-442. Available from