Data Analysis Approaches in High Throughput Screening

With the advances in biotechnology, identification of new therapeutic targets, and better un‐ derstanding of human diseases, pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions have accelerated their efforts in drug discovery. The pipeline to obtain therapeutics often involves target identification and validation, lead discovery and optimization, pre-clinical animal studies, and eventually clinical trials to test the safety and effectiveness of the new drugs. In most cases, screening using genome-scale RNA interference (RNAi) technology or diverse compound libraries comprises the first step of the drug discovery initiatives. Small interfer‐ ing RNA (siRNA, a class of double-stranded RNA molecules 20-25 nucleotides in length ca‐ pable of interfering with the expression of specific genes with complementary nucleotide sequence) screen is an effective tool to identify upstream or downstream regulators of a spe‐ cific target gene, which may also potentially serve as drug targets for a more efficient and successful treatment. On the other hand, screening of diverse small molecule libraries against a known target or disease-relevant pathway facilitates the discovery of chemical tools as candidates for further development.