The promise of a virtual lab in drug discovery.
To date, the life sciences 'omics' revolution has not lived up to the expectation of boosting the drug discovery process. The major obstacle is dealing with the volume and diversity of data generated. An enhanced-science (e-science) approach based on remote collaboration, reuse of data and methods, and supported by a virtual laboratory (VL) environment promises to get the drug discovery process afloat. The creation, use and preservation of information in formalized knowledge spaces is essential to the e-science approach. VLs include Grid computation and data communication as well as generic and domain-specific tools and methods for information management, knowledge extraction and data analysis. Problem-solving environments (PSEs) are the domain-specific experimental environments of VLs. Thus, VL-PSEs can support virtual organizations, based on the changing partnerships characteristic of successful drug discovery enterprises.
Rauwerda
Han
H
Integrative Bioinformatics Unit, Institute for Informatics, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Kruislaan 318, building 1, room C017, P.O. Box 96062, 1090 GB Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Roos
Marco
M
Hertzberger
Bob O
BO
Breit
Timo M
TM
D003198:Computer Simulation; D016208:Databases, Factual; D015195:Drug Design; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000379:methods*; D012106:Research / Q000458:organization & administration; D012107:Research Design