ERIC Number: EJ1117677
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Jul
Pages: 7
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0036-8555
EISSN: N/A
Computer-Aided Drug Design
Stowe, Ryan; Elvey, Jacob
Science Teacher, v83 n5 p40-46 Jul 2016
Chemistry in high school is often presented as a jumbled mass of topics drawn from inorganic, analytical, and physical sub-disciplines. With no central theme to build on, students may have trouble grasping the chemical sciences as a coherent field. In this article, Stowe and Elvey describe an activity that integrates different facets of chemistry and biology into a scaffold structured around small-molecule medicinal drug discovery. To discover new medicinal molecules, intrepid chemists often must obtain and modify a lead compound of interest. Through the use of these in silico (computer-based) models, scientists can bias those molecules they make in the lab on the basis of binding affinity predictions resultant from virtual screens containing millions of small molecules. Through this exercise, students assume the role of medicinal chemists searching for a new anticancer medicine by pursuing (structurally similar) analogs to a chemotherapeutic lead compound of interest.
Descriptors: Computer Assisted Design, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Molecular Structure, Pharmacology, Courseware, Diseases, Investigations, Laboratory Experiments, Science Activities, Science Instruction, High School Students
National Science Teachers Association. 1840 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201-3000. Tel: 800-722-6782; Fax: 703-243-3924; e-mail: membership@nsta.org; Web site: http://www.nsta.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education; High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A