The Future of Drug Design and Development

Over the past century, chemists have discovered the ability to explain a whole range of biological phenomena, from the mechanisms by which genetic information is passed from parents to children to the processes by which certain compounds kill microorganisms. Is there any aspect about being human that chemists cannot explain Is it possible that even questions of how the brain and mind function can be answered by a better understanding of the biochemistry of the human body  

Many researchers are now attempting to answer that question. An important breakthrough in the field came in 1973 when two researchers at the Johns Hopkins University, Solomon Snyder and Candace Pert, discovered an essential key to the way in which natural body chemicals relieve pain and provide dramatic changes in the brain. 

Drug researchers in the 21st century still face a daunting array of tasks. The nature of these tasks and some of the progress that has been made in meeting those challenges are the topics of the remaining chapters of this hook. 

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