Genome Project on Drug Design Term Paper

IV. TESTING ON HUMANS

The only thing that is lacking at this point according to all reports is for testing on humans to be completed. The Time Asia articles states: "The last step for the ace-2 inhibitor, as for any drug, is human clinical trials. Because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires such rigorous testing, this is by far the most expensive part of drug development. So for human trials in some cases, Millennium has formed partnerships with large pharmaceutical companies that have the necessary resources and will share in any eventual profits." (2001)

SUMMARY & CONCLUSION

According to the work entitled: "Brave New Pharmacy" published in Time Asia (2001) "When the human genome was sequenced...scientists finally gained access to the full text of God's reference manual; the 3 billion biochemical 'letters' that spell out our tens of thousands of genes. These genes, strung out along the 46 chromosomes in virtually every human cell, carry the instruction for making all the tissues, organs, and hormones and enzymes in our body." (Lemonick, 2001) Lemonick states that: when scientists finish decoding these instructions.."..they should have a better understanding of precisely what happens, down to the molecules within individual cells, when the body malfunctions....if you understand the genetic basis of a disease, then you can predict what protein it produces and set about developing a drug to block it." (2001) In fact the traditional method used by physicians of the patient working their way through several drugs before finding one that works, such as in the case of high blood pressure will be transformed "in the new era of genomic medicine" because this "halting, inefficient approach should give way to something much more rational and systematic." (Ibid) Therefore it can be understood that the traditional "trial and error" methodology of medicine discovery of the past century and the many centuries preceding it has ended with the new methodology being that of "yielding drugs to design [as scientists are now] "armed with blueprints for our genes, can identify the individual molecules that make us susceptible to a particular disease. With that information -- and some high-speed silicon-age machinery -- they can build new molecules that home in on their targets like well-aimed arrows." (Elmer-Dewitt, 2001) These new developments in science and pharmacological development will do away with many side effects that patients have had to suffer in the past as the most effective medicine is sought by the physician for the patient and as well the more effective and systematic treatment of disease is now possible.

Bibliography

Drug Design in the Fast Lane: Speeding Drug Design (nd)

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=http://www.roboo.com/anna/zyhy9.htm&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=2&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DACE-2%2Binhibitor%2Band%2Bgenetic%2Bcompatibility%2Bwith%2Bdrugs%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D.

Elmer-Dewitt, Phillip (2001) The Future of Drugs. Time Asia 22 January 2001 Vol. 57, No. 3 Online available at http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/2001/0122/cover1.html.

Lemonick, Michael, D. (2001) Brave New Pharmacy - Time Asia 22 Jan 2001 Vol. 157. No. 3 Online available at http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/2001/0122/drug.impact.html

Kher, Unmesh (2001) DNA Microarrays: The Workhorse of Genomic Medicine - Time Asia 22 Jan 2001, Vol. 157 No. 3. Online available at http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/2001/0122/drug.impact_sb1.html

Riordan, James F. (2003) Angiotensin-I-Converting Enzyme and Its Relatives - Genome Biology 2003, 4:225 25 July 2003. BioMed Central Ltd. Online available at http://genomebiology.com/2003/4/8/225

The Impact of the Genome Project on Drug Design and Discovery