Quantitative structure-activity relationships mechanistic interpretations

A.K. Debnath et al., Mechanistic interpretation of the genotoxicity of nitrofurans (antibacterial agents) using quantitative structure-activity relationships and comparative molecular field analysis. J. Med. Chem. 36, 1007-1016 (1993)... 

Debnath, A.K., Hansch, C., Kim, K.H. and Martin, Y.C. (1993). Mechanistic Interpretation of the Genotoxicity of Nitrofurans (Antibacterial Agents) Using Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships and Comparative Molecular Field Analysis. J.Med.Chem.,36,1007-1016. 

A few years ago, Dearden and collaborators [14] published a paper with the very provocative and pretentious title How Not to Develop a Quantitative Structure-Activity or Structure-Property Relationship (QSAR/QSPR). In this publication, in the section Errors in QSARs/QSPRs, the authors listed, in total, 21 types of error in QSAR/QSPR development and use They ended their list with Lack of mechanistic interpretation as an error, which itself is not an error but a matter of politics ... 

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