If a major medical research institute was to undergo a major expansion, and there was the chance to design-in facilities for chemistry/chemical biology/medicinal chemistry, should this be done with a view to 10-20 years into the future, and what case would one put in light of competing for the same space as pure biologists? i.e. is there a useful source pointing to the great future of chemical biology, or quotes from high profile players/institutes to that effect?
David Baltimore, a recipient of 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, stated during his plenary talk at 2007 Meeting of American Association of Cancer Research: “
We study cancer as a biological event, but it is CHEMISTRY that translates this knowledge to the bedside”. Similar statements can be applied to practically any disease, not just cancer. Currently, chemistry lags behind biology in generation of compounds targeting many established or suspected molecular targets. This is due to the fact that synthetic efforts receive very small fractions of funding in many academic and government biomedical institutes. The efficacy of drug discovery has been on decline for the past decade. The following link provides some analysis of the reasons for the decline and outlines the importance of drug discovery efforts outside the industry:
http://ccr.cancer.gov/faculties/documents/121/Drug%20discovery%20at%20CCR.doc
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