In this first issue of the new year, we present several articles that describe new tools for advancing drug discovery and development. The arrangement of molecules in pharmaceutical crystals determines key drug properties, such as dissolution rate, and progress in the determination, computational prediction and engineering of pharmaceutical crystal structures is highlighted by Datta and Grant. Neefjes and Dantuma describe fluorescent probes that can be used to track the activity of proteases and their inhibition by drugs, both in organisms and in cells. And according to McNeish, such cell-based assays of drug safety and efficacy are becoming increasingly reliant on embryonic stem cells. New targets are obviously also important, and two articles discuss biological processes that have offered opportunities for drug discovery. Norman and colleagues synthesize recent advances in the understanding of rapid, non-genomic responses to steroid hormones, and Karin et al. discuss the achievements of efforts to target the nuclear factor-κB/Rel transcription factors, which are involved in conditions such as cancer and autoimmune disorders. Harnessing the immune system to treat chronic diseases is the theme of an Opinion piece from Bachmann and Dyer, who argue that activating antibodies against self-molecules — so-called therapeutic vaccination — is a goal that should be pursued. In 'From the Analyst's Couch', Werber presents an overview of market opportunities for therapeutics directed against lysosomal storage diseases, and oxaliplatin, the first platinum-based drug approved for colorectal cancer, is the subject of 'Fresh from the Pipeline'. Efforts to implement the use of pharmacogenetic data in the clinic have so far focused on conditions such as cancer; however, Freeman and McLeod's Perspective discusses the challenges and opportunities for the application of this new technology to drug selection for acutely ill patients in critical care units.
