Phenotypic Screening with Cells and Forward Chemical Genetics Strategies

Abstract

A commonly used method to understand the role of complex biological systems and how they function is to disrupt them and then to observe the result of this disruption. A classic way to create such disruptions is to generate genetic mutations and then to observe the effect of these mutations on the cell or the organism. Small organic molecules can also cause disruption to the functioning of biological systems and can be employed to understand the role of the protein with which they interact. The history of biology is full of examples of complex systems whose molecular functioning can be understood thanks to the use of drugs or ligands as well as to the characterisation of the protein targets of these ligands. One such example is the role of colchicine in the discovery of tubulin, a component protein of microtubules (SHELANSKI and TAYLOR, 1967; PETERSON and MITCHISON, 2002).