An overview of soft computing techniques used in the drug discovery process

Abstract

Drug discovery (DD) research has evolved to the point of critical dependence on computerized systems, databases and newer disciplines. Such disciplines include but are not limited to bioinformatics, chemoinformatics and soft computing. Their applications range from sequence analysis methods for finding biological targets to design of combinatorial libraries in lead compound optimisation. This paper presents a brief overview of classical techniques in DD with their limitations, and outlines current SC based techniques in this area. © 2006 Springer.