The following is snipped from What is Chemoinformatics? at http://www.bioinfoinstitute.com/chemoinfo.htm
Dr. Frank Brown introduced the term “chemoinformatics” in the Annual Reports of Medicinal Chemistry in 1998. The definition according to Dr. Brown is “The use of information technology and management has become a critical part of the drug discovery process. Chemoinformatics is the mixing of those information resources to transform data into information and information into knowledge for the intended purpose of making better decisions faster in the area of drug lead identification and organization.”
In fact, Chemoinformatics is a generic term that encompasses the design, creation, organization, management, retrieval, analysis, dissemination, visualization and use of chemical information.
Related terms of cheminformatics are chemi-informatics, chemometrics, computational chemistry, chemical informatics, chemical information management/science, and cheminformatics.
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The following is snipped from 'Archive of top stories on Genomics, biotechnology and bioinformatics' at http://www.iqnewsnet.com/displaysub.asp?cat=G
A new method, using micron sized pores, has been developed by scientists in Munich to study the flow of ions in and out of cell membranes at the level of individual molecules. Ion channel research is important for understanding how biological cells exchange information. [S][B][G][N]
http://www.aip.org/enews/physnews/2002/split/617-3.html
Researchers in the United States say they could be ready to start clinical trials of a stem cell therapy on stroke victims or brain tumour patients within a year. Their latest work suggests that stem cells are naturally attracted to diseased areas of the brain, and that adult stem cells from bone marrow can differentiate into several cell types of the central nervous system. [H][G]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2590279.stm
New research announced at the world's biggest meeting of heart doctors suggests it will soon be possible to use the body's own stem cells to repair the damage caused by heart attacks. The number of people with heart failure will rise to 1.5 million in the UK alone by the year 2015, according to forecasts. [H][G]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2487033.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2539835.stm
The zebrafish can completely re-grow its heart tissue after major injury, a US team has discovered. This remarkable finding could lead to human cures for the damage caused by heart attack or heart disease. It was already known that zebrafish can regenerate spinal cord, retina and fins. Zebrafish are widely used as a model for studying human gene action. Both species share similar blood, kidney and optical systems. A team at the Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, is currently sequencing the zebrafish genome. [H][G]
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993178 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2570505.stm
US scientists believe they may have unlocked a complex 17-gene signature that could tell doctors whether a tumour has what it takes to spread. This could mean that the most aggressive cancers could be spotted early and given more powerful treatments. [H][G]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2558405.stm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021209070216.htm
Cells are generally assumed to need a full set of DNA to run without major flaws, but research shows that, remarkably, a third of dividing cells in one region of the adult mouse brain have gained or lost at least one chromosome. This hints that every person's brain may be a mosaic of cells with different genetic make-ups. Immune cells and blood cells appear not to show the same effect. [B][G]
http://www.nature.com/nsu/021216/021216-2.html
Generally, cells differentiate irreversibly as stem cells give rise to increasingly specialised types of offspring cells. However, US research has shown that certain mouse cells retain an ability to oscillate between very distinct blood cell types - B-cells and macrophages - long after what has been commonly regarded as the point of no return. [G]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021217072832.htm
US scientists have used femtosecond laser spectroscopy to measure the flexibility of mouse antibodies. Protein flexibility is believed to play an important role in antibody-antigen recognition. [O][G][S]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021218074056.htm
A defect of the immune system may be to blame for some cases of the eating disorders anorexia and bulimia. Scientists have found evidence that the conditions may be the result of autoimmune disorders similar to those that are thought to cause multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. . [H][G]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2558349.stm
The properties of quantum dots make them suitable for many applications in studying processes in biological cells, from tagging single proteins in cells to diagnostic imaging. Initially quantum dots proved toxic to cells, but researchers have now been able to inject a billion purified quantum dots safely into single cells in very early frog embryos. The differentiation processes of their rapidly dividing cells make embryos highly sensitive to physical and chemical changes in their environment and therefore providing a stringent test of the technology. [S][G][N]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/021127071742.htm
Researchers at UCLA have made a silicon sensor array with very high resolution, which they hope will enable the complex chemical processes in a living cell to be monitored in real time. The array contains hundreds of transistors in an area the same size as a cell. The researchers plan to tailor each transistor to track the concentration of a particular biomolecule in order to give an instantaneous read-out of hundreds of cell constituents. They hope to then monitor a cell's immune system in real time, to help understand how hundreds of genes are coordinated to identify and repel intruder attack. [S][G][J]
http://www.nature.com/nsu/021202/021202-15.html
Engineers from QinetiQ have come up with the Intratech Processing System (IWPS) - a cheaper, cleaner, and more environmentally friendly train toilet that uses a bioreactor to treat the waste. The technology - which grew out of prototype system being used on a naval frigate - could also reduce waste processing and minimise the use of clean water for flushing in domestic settings. The financial and environmental costs of wastewater treatment are huge, especially in densely populated cities. [E][G][H]
http://www.nature.com/nsu/021202/021202-1.html
Traditional heart bypass surgeries require using veins from the leg to replace damaged blood vessels. Using a nanotechnology, doctors soon could be using artificial blood vessels grown in a laboratory around a scaffold, or tube, made of collagen. The scaffold is electrospun and smooth muscle cells are “seeded” on its surface. The cells grow and within three-to-six weeks the tissue-engineered blood vessel is ready to implant. The same collagen electrospinning technology can also be used to regenerate or replace skin, bone, nerves, muscles and even repair spinal cord injuries. [M][G][H][N]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/021126210341.htm
A biological reactor that converts a slurry of food waste into a biodegradable plastic has been developed by scientists in Hawaii. In the US alone, more than 22 million tonnes of waste food are ditched each year, making landfills stink, releasing the greenhouse gas methane, and sometimes leaching into groundwater. [M][E][G]
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993087
In its review of the most important scientific events in 2002, Science Magazine gives top place to the discovery that molecules called small RNAs are at the heart of many of the cell's genetic workings. Small RNAs can switch genes on and off, and even remove unwanted sections of DNA. Other top scientific events, in what is hailed as a vintage year for science, are the resolution of the long standing solar neutrino puzzle, the sequencing of the genomes of key animals, plants and insects, and the detection of patterns in the fine structure of the cosmic microwave background providing new insights into the motion of matter in the early Universe. Other landmarks are the ability to study atomic processes using attosecond laser imaging, the use of adaptive optics in astronomy, and the progress in exploring body and cellular processes including the mechanisms of taste, smell and the circadian clock. [T][F][G][O][R][S]
Tissue engineering has made great gains as a science, but it has been much less successful as a business. What is needed is better automation in the manufacturing process, robotics replacing manual work, and precise sensors and control systems to create and maintain the biochemical and mechanical environments that nurture tissues such as synthetic skin. [W][G][H][M][T][U]
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/publicfeature/dec02/skin.html
Scientists from NASA , SETI Institute and Argonne National Laboratory in the US have genetically engineered a protein from a mud-dwelling microbe so that it can form nanoscale arrays of metal and semiconductor quantum dots. The technique could have applications in making nanoelectronic devices. [G][M][N]
http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/1/11/16/1 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/021126072435.htm
Research at Rockefeller University and NRL has demonstrated that quantum dots can be used to simultaneously track multiple living proteins or cells for up to days at a time. A fluorescent microscope is all that is required to follow the minute-by-minute activities of the colour-coded proteins and cells. The technology could be very important for following cellular processes and for diseases such as cystic fibrosis and Alzheimer’s where certain proteins move to the wrong places. [N][B][G][H][J][S]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021213062213.htm
A theory that integrates evolutionary biology and economics proposes that the critical natural selection that occurred prior to the Industrial Revolution involved the fundamental tradeoff between child-caring and child-rearing. The authors attribute acceleration in this evolutionary process to the emergence of the nuclear family that fostered intergenerational links and encouraged better nourishment and education for children, which fed back into technological progress. And as technology advanced, it fed back into more education, and human capital took off. [X][E][G][K]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021206075529.htm
In life-sciences establishments around the world, the laboratory rat is giving way to the computer mouse - as computing joins forces with biology to create a bioinformatics market that is expected to be worth nearly $40 billion within three years. [G][C][K][T]
http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1476685
Friends and foes of the use of genetic engineering in US agriculture have united in criticising two accidents in which a food crop was contaminated by a crop from the previous year designed to yield pharmaceutical products. [G][E][H]
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993073
Stanford researchers have created circles of synthetic DNA - called "nanocircles" – which they have used to lengthen telomeres in the test tube. The telomere is the time clock that controls how many times a cell can divide. It protects against cancer, and also contributes to ageing as cells can no longer reproduce themselves. [G][N]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/021120064507.htm
New research suggests that changes in less than 1 percent of our genes are responsible for the ageing process. Work carried out on nematode worms shows that only a very small number of genes become less efficient as our cells get older. These genes produce proteins that keep the cells working properly and protect them against stress. There are several theories of why cells age of which the most popular is that as they become less efficient and less able to rid themselves of waste and toxic products. [G][H]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2521243.stm
A California research team has created a detailed catalogue of all 518 protein kinase genes encoded by the human genome. Protein kinases are among the most important regulators of cell behaviour. Overactive kinases are the cause of some types of cancer, and the central role of kinases in controlling cell behaviour has led to their being investigated as targets for treatment of a variety of other diseases, including diabetes, osteoporosis, inflammation and occular diseases. [G][H]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021206075037.htm
US and German scientists have deciphered and analysed the complete genome of the bacterium, Pseudomonas putida. This is a fast-growing bacterium found in most temperate soil and water habitats where oxygen is present. Because the bacterium can colonise the root area of crop plants, researchers are trying to use P. putida strains in bioengineering research to develop biopesticides and plant growth promoters. The bacterium is also widely studied because of its diverse metabolism, which is capable of remediating toxic organic pollutants such as aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbons. [G][E]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021203074545.htm
Using advanced imaging technology and computational simulations, scientists have, for the first time, glimpsed the action of a cellular machine at work within living cells. The work suggests cellular machines are dynamic protein complexes that are continually building and rebuilding within the cell, rather than stable structures as previously thought. Computer simulations suggest that each formation resulted from random, chaotic interactions between protein subunits that eventually came together in the proper configuration. This dynamic nature of cellular machines may allow components to assemble as needed in response to changing environmental conditions. [G][C][S]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/0! 21122074846.htm
A new genetically engineered variety of rice, which can grow in all types of conditions, has been developed by scientists in the United States and Korea. It is hoped the new crop will help farmers in developing countries be more productive on poor land, increasing yields by up to 20%. [G][E]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2512195.stm
The mouse genome has been published and reveals that humans and mice share at least 80% of their genes, with only 300 unique to either organism. Mice are the most important model organism for human biology. Whether an embryo turns into a mouse or a human will depend largely on which genes get switched on where. Now Japanese researchers have pulled together such a catalogue for mouse genes. [G][T]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2536501.stm http://www.nature.com/nsu/021202/021202-9.html http://www.nature.com/nsu/021202/021202-10.html http://www.nature.com/nsu/021202/021202-8.html http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1477471
A US geneticist has been given ethical approval and a government grant to build the first artificial bacterium. Dr Craig Venter - the man behind the privately funded human genome sequence - and Dr Hamilton Smith - a Nobel-Prize-winning geneticist - want to create a man-made microbe with the minimum number of genes needed to sustain life. In July scientists synthesised the polio virus from basic chemical building blocks. [G]
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993094 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2499119.stm
Europe is set to introduce the world's strictest laws for labelling genetically modified food. [G][E]
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993128
A flood of new medicines will hit the market if producing biopharmaceuticals in animals rather than reaction vessels can be made to work better. [G][H][T]
http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1476629
New analysis shows that photosynthesis did not evolve through a linear path of steady change and growing complexity but through a merging of evolutionary lines that brought together independently evolving chemical systems - the swapping of blocks of genetic material among bacterial species known as horizontal gene transfer. [G][E]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/021122074236.htm
Researchers at MIT have found a way to switch biological cell processes on and off with radio waves. They use gold nanoparticles to control the operation of individual enzymes. The gold particles, around 1nm in diameter, are used as antennae, harvesting energy from a radio-frequency electromagnetic field. This energy breaks up the enzyme, rendering it useless. When the field is switched off, the parts of the enzyme re-assemble of their own accord. The technique also works with DNA molecules. The goal is to make remotely controlled "microbial machines". [N][G][J][U]
http://www.nature.com/nsu/021202/021202-12.html
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Also see:
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New Paradigms in Drug Design and Discovery http://www.bentham.org/sample-issues/ctmc2-3/barchi/barchi-ms.htm
The College of Engineering's courses on Biomedical Engineering http://www.bu.edu/bulletins/eng/item13.html#anchor03
Strategic Biocomputing http://www.chimolecularmed.com/track4.asp
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