Targeted molecular imaging: target significance and probe validation.

r m c v d C C In the post-genomic era, drug development and diagnostic imaging have become more closely linked in the search for targets. Since the 1940s, nuclear imaging has been based on physiological targets, some more easily saturable than others. Recently, the search for drug targets has been increasingly based on genomics, primarily on genome-wide association studies, an approach used in genetics research to look for associations between specific genetic variations (most commonly single-