Bioactive Agents from Natural Sources: Trends in Discovery and Application - Advances in Biochemical Engineering Biotechnology - page 132

tion techniques have come into use.Microarray chips permit the simultaneous
analysis ofthousands ofgenes and their expression profiles in different cells and
tissue types,and under specific conditions,thus contributing to accelerated tar-
get elucidation.Furthermore,the microarray chip technology can be applied for
improved gene diagnostics.
5.1.2
Applicational Aspects of Gene Function Analysis
However,the discovery of a new potential drug target represents only the first
step in a series of experiments towards bioassay construction and integration
into the HTS process.Valid cell culture experiments, and qualified transgenic
animal models, respectively, are prerequisites for constructing a predictive
screening assay. Preliminary studies of the function and regulation of so-far
unknown human genes can be performed by well characterized model orga-
Fig. 13. The drug discovery and development process towards a new therapeutic agent starting
from genomic sciences and target selection