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Redefining priorities in gene-based drug discovery

Nature Biotechnology volume 19, page 707 (2001)Cite this article

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The belief that genomics will rapidly and directly lead to a host of new drug products has caused a number of major pharmaceutical and biotechnology players to establish as a priority the patenting of as many genes and gene targets as possible. Yet, many of those companies that were swift to jump on the genomics bandwagon are now learning there is no fast route from gene to blockbuster pharmaceutical. What's more, these burgeoning intellectual property portfolios may well become obsolete as systems-based approaches to drug discovery become widely adopted.

The incredible level of functional complexity revealed as we decode the genome should come as no surprise. New molecular tools only confirm what we had already guessed—all life on Earth is part of complex systems, from the biosphere, to social networks, down to the cellular and molecular levels. Huang1 points out that in complex organisms, each gene product is part of a network or pathway that, in many cases, may represent only a single step in a series of complex intracellular or extracellular interactions. As Huang says: “The 'function' of a gene product appears to depend on its 'cellular context'.” Thus, function derives from an architecture that cannot be determined by examining the building blocks alone.

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  1. Boston, MA

    Mehran M. Khodadoust & Thomas P. Klein

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  1. Mehran M. Khodadoust
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  2. Thomas P. Klein
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Khodadoust, M., Klein, T. Redefining priorities in gene-based drug discovery. Nat Biotechnol 19, 707 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/90733

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