Boston University biomedical engineers, chemists collaborate on
novel method (Boston) -- The ability to select and develop
compounds that act on specific cellular targets has just gained
a computational ally -- a mathematical algorithm that predicts
the precise effects a given compound will have on a cell's
molecular components or chemical processes. Using this tool,
drug developers can design compounds that will act on only
desired gene and protein targets, eliciting therapeutic
responses free of unwanted side effects. The research, which
appears in the March 4 issue of Nature Biotechnology, reports on
collaborative work by a team of biomedical engineers and
chemists at Boston University. The team was led by Tim Gardner,
an assistant professor in the College of Engineering's
Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) and its Center for
BioDynamics, and James Collins, a professor in BME and co-
director of the Center for BioDynamics, and done in
collaboration with Scott Schaus and Sean Elliott, assistant
profe