Boosting genetic research with information technology

For most people, the words "biology experiment" bring to mind frogs, forceps and the smell of formaldehyde. For 21st-century bioscientists, experimental biology brings to mind the vast database of information from the recently decoded human gene set -- the genome.

The human genome project provides pharmaceutical researchers with a wealth of information that can help accelerate their quest to create a new generation of highly effective drugs. However, to mine relevant insights from the mountain of genetic data, and to speed the process of drug development and approval, researchers are using high-powered computers and sophisticated information-management software.

Studying the manual

DNA is the genetic instruction manual that directs the structure and function of all the cells in a body. This manual turns out to be a very long book. The human genome alone contains 3.12 billion chromosome pairs, and the full extent of available genetic information is even greater. Facilities such as GenBank in the United States, the European Molecular Biology Lab in Germany, and DNA Database in Japan work together to maintain and exchange publicly accessible databases of the nucleic acid and protein sequences that compose the DNA of humans, rodents, viruses, and more.

These databases already hold 28 gigabytes (28 billion bytes) of information. Now, genetic experiments that once produced small amounts of data are adding massive amounts to the already towering mountain of information. So the book grows longer every day as researchers add more pages.

With so much information expanding so rapidly, it's no surprise that long-time observers of the biosciences are heralding a change in the field. To manage the onslaught of experimental data, biology -- and especially genetics -- has become intertwined with information technology. In fact, the industry has created a new field called bioinformatics, which uses sophisticated computing techniques to organize and analyze experimental information.

A long and winding road

Genomic databases offer scientists numerous new targets for drug development. This increase in targets has led to stunning growth in genome-based drug research, which has resulted in a record number of potential drugs clogging the development pipeline. Obtaining approval for new drugs (and thus gaining a return on investment dollars) is a long and slow process. Estimates are that a successful new drug will take an average of US$500 million and 15 years to gain approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Even though the FDA's recent streamlining efforts may shave up to five years off the process, 10 years is still a daunting prospect for pharmaceutical manufacturers and investors. Because of the extremely slow pace of development and regulatory approval, consumers will likely have to wait until after 2005 for drugs that are currently seeking approval.

However, in addition to helping researchers gain insights into the vastness of the human genome, bioinformatics can also shorten the timeline for developing and approving new drugs. The advanced computational methods of bioinformatics can present DNA and experimental information in ways that are easily accessed and shared by researchers within the same company. In fact, British Biotech and Agilent Technologies are collaborating on using bioinformatics to manage research-and-development information.

Working together across the pond

British Biotech is an Oxford-based pharmaceutical company that is developing products for the treatment of cancer, inflammation, and infectious disease. It uses a progressive organizational model based on multidisciplinary project teams. This organizational model requires an interdisciplinary approach to project management and decision-making that relies on powerful information-management solutions to ensure that all team members have access to critical research data.

British Biotech is joining with Agilent to develop software that allows users to share, reuse, and save information from different areas within the company. Internal information necessary to complete an investigational new drug application (called an IND) will be readily available to researchers and managers. Like all high-tech companies, British Biotech already makes extensive use of information technology, which presents many challenges for Agilent, including the need to make the new software mesh with, and not disrupt, British Biotech's existing processes. In addition, the system being developed by Agilent Labs gives British Biotech three ways to trace all data:

• backwards to its source
  
• forward to all reports and documents in which it plays a role
  
• to conclusions other researchers have reached about that specific piece of data

This system will thus help British Biotech meet regulatory requirements for traceability. Ultimately, by keeping managers informed of the latest developments and allowing them to optimize planning decisions, this improved access to data will successfully shorten the time it takes for a drug to reach the marketplace.

For more information

Agilent is committed to providing software and hardware technologies to improve the productivity of life sciences research. To learn more about the full spectrum of Agilent's life sciences products, please visit the Life Sciences section of our Web site.

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