Information and Computing Technologies are being Employed in Drug Discovery and Development Processes 

In a Joint Lecture between UoB and AGU… Dr. Khalaf: 

Information and Computing Technologies are being Employed in Drug Discovery and Development Processes 

The Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Life Information Technology in the Department of Life Sciences at the Arabian Gulf University (AGU), Dr. Noureddine Khalaf, confirmed that the drug industry has developed significantly during the last ten years, attributing the reason to the application of information and computing technologies in all stages of drug discovery and development processes. 

This was during a speech given by Dr. Khalaf in a virtual lecture that was recently held under the auspices of the Dean of the College of Science at the University of Bahrain (UoB), Prof. Dr. Mohammed Mustafa Al-Hilo under the title “Computing and Information Technologies and Their Role in the Discovery and Manufacturing Processes of Drugs”, which was organized by the Department of Life Sciences at UoB in partnership with AGU. 

Also, Dr. Khalaf pointed out that the process of manufacturing any drug begins with the identification of an effective protein present in the human body, which is intended to stimulate or inhibit its action by using a specific chemical that can bind to this protein and affect its vital processes in the cells of the human body. 

He further added that the process of identifying that chemical is done by sorting a huge information field that includes the names and specifications of hundreds of these chemical compounds, stressing the role of information technology in facilitating the selection process and then testing the effectiveness of that chemical on the effective protein by default through advanced computing programs, and before its application on experimental animals, followed by clinical applications. 

Also, Dr. Khalaf confirmed that the role of computing applications and information technologies is not limited to the stages that precede the discovery of the drug, but in the stages that follow the process of drug discovery and trial as well, and that is in the process of determining the appropriate doses and tracking the effect of the drug and its effectiveness on the organs of the human body. 

Moreover, the Dean of the College of Science at UoB, Prof. Mohammed Mustafa Al-Hilo, and the Head of the Biology Department at UoB, Dr. Salwa Mutlaq Al-Thawadi, praised the valuable informative level of the lecture, welcoming the cooperation in the field of research and scientific supervision of graduate students between UoB and AGU. 

While the organizer and director of the lecture, Assistant Professor of Environment and Molecular Biotechnology at the Department of Life Sciences at UoB, Dr. Maysoon Nedham Awadh, pointed to the lecture’s contribution to promoting the sustainable development goals of the United Nations Development Program in the Arab countries, indicating the great interaction from the participants in the lecture and their praise of the scientific information presented, which opened prospects for cooperation between UoB and AGU.  

It is worth noting that a number of professors and students from the College of Science UoB, people interested, and specialists from outside the university participated in the lecture.