Decoding Drug Discovery: Exploring A-to-Z In silico Methods for Beginners
Journal:
arXiv
Published Date:
Dec 15, 2024
Abstract
The drug development process is a critical challenge in the pharmaceutical
industry due to its time-consuming nature and the need to discover new drug
potentials to address various ailments. The initial step in drug development,
drug target identification, often consumes considerable time. While valid,
traditional methods such as in vivo and in vitro approaches are limited in
their ability to analyze vast amounts of data efficiently, leading to wasteful
outcomes. To expedite and streamline drug development, an increasing reliance
on computer-aided drug design (CADD) approaches has merged. These sophisticated
in silico methods offer a promising avenue for efficiently identifying viable
drug candidates, thus providing pharmaceutical firms with significant
opportunities to uncover new prospective drug targets. The main goal of this
work is to review in silico methods used in the drug development process with a
focus on identifying therapeutic targets linked to specific diseases at the
genetic or protein level. This article thoroughly discusses A-to-Z in silico
techniques, which are essential for identifying the targets of bioactive
compounds and their potential therapeutic effects. This review intends to
improve drug discovery processes by illuminating the state of these
cutting-edge approaches, thereby maximizing the effectiveness and duration of
clinical trials for novel drug target investigation.
