Introduction
The postgraduate diploma course in bioinformatics, the
flagship program of IBAB has been a successful training program in a
multidisciplinary field. With this enriching experience, the institute
is now gearing up to offer another multidisciplinary course in
cheminformatics which is in a way closely tied to bioinformatics.
Cheminformatics
Background
In the past few decades, the drug design field has
extensively used computational tools to accelerate the development of
new and improved therapeutics. Researchers have recognized the urgent
need to establish relationships between chemical structures and their
properties. Quantitative Structure Property Relationships (QSPR) along
with Linear Gibbs Free Energy Relationships (LFER) and Quantitative
Structure Activity Relationships (QSAR) have been established for a
wide variety of chemical molecules.
Cheminformatics analysis tools are gaining in
sophistication, and are earning increasing respect as tools crucial for
the rapid development of new therapeutics. One factor driving the need
for effective chemical data analysis is the tremendous growth of
molecular databases as a result of automated combinatorial synthesis
techniques and high through put assay systems. Cheminformatics
techniques facilitate the analysis and interpretation of the chemical
information contained within these sets of complex and high-dimensional
molecular data.
IT-proficient scientists and chemists are now able to
generate, retrieve and analyse scientific information that is more
accurate and useful by making use of specialised software for analysis
of their vast data. It is difficult to imagine a chemical research
laboratory or company without the application of computers in the
development and testing of drugs, storage or analysis of data.
Cheminformatics is a fast growing field and there is a
lack of qualified scientific professionals who can use computers and
databases for chemical compounds or drug development. Realising its
immense potential, the chemical and pharmaceutical industries are now
going in for qualified and trained staff in cheminformatics. New career
avenues have also opened up for IT as well as computer-proficient
science graduates for acquiring, managing, or utilising chemical
information with the help of computer software or hardware. These
professionals are essential to develop and maintain programs for
specific scientific applications.
With the exponentially growing and highly competitive
drug and pharmaceutical market, cheminformatics professionals thus have
immense importance in the drug development process as they implement IT
tools to replace traditional processes. The demand for such IT –
chemical professionals is also growing substantially. These
professionals are expected to contribute in bringing new products to
the market quickly and economically. In the years to come
cheminformatics shall play a vital role in new drug discovery programs
and candidates with professional experience are bound to have a good
job market.
