| abstract |
The present invention is directed to a novel, target-blind approach to drug discovery. The concept is to model human phenotypes in a teleost, such as a zebrafish, and then screen compounds, e.g., small molecules, for their ability to alter the phenotype. Because the screen is performed with a whole vertebrate organism and uses a phenotype as the output, the need to first identify target genes is eliminated. This approach is powerful because a single screen can theoretically detect drugs affecting any target relevant to the phenotype being observed, even if those targets are not yet characterized. |