The iMolecule group from Skoltech has developed an artificial intelligence-driven solution that uses data on the structure of RNA or DNA molecules to identify sites on them where interaction with potential drug candidates can occur. Knowledge of these binding sites allows pharmaceutical companies to discover new medications—including antiviral agents—in a much more focused and efficient manner. The new solution is also more accurate than prior approaches, because it accounts for how the shape assumed by a nucleic acid molecule affects which binding sites are exposed. The study came out in Nucleic Acid Research: Genomics and Bioinformatics.
For a long time, pharmacologists have seen RNA as merely a mediator between DNA—that is, our genome—and the functional proteins it encodes, so most drugs target proteins. However, while about 85% of the genome is transcribed into RNAs, only a small fraction of those actually encode proteins.
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