Image: Students and professionals at the Chemical Probes Hackathon at Merck in Darmstadt.Credit: Alisa Crisp
35 people gathered at Merck’s The first Chemical Probe Hackathon was recently held at our headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany.
Groups of PhD and MSc students from five local institutions join experts from academia and industry to conduct basic and applied biomedical research, including chemical probes, target validation for drug discovery Learned and reviewed quality tools for
These events are Chemical Probe Portalis a free public resource at the Cancer Institute that contains expert information on how to select and use small molecule inhibitors for scientific research and drug discovery.
Students learned how to distinguish between good chemical probes for specific protein targets and compounds that should not be used. The compounds were then reviewed as a group, with supervision and advice from experienced mentors, reaching a total of 31 reviews in one day.
powerful and selective
Chemical probes should be potent and selective, have evidence of target engagement and target regulation within the cell, and ideally have orthogonal and regulatory compounds available.
“We are very pleased to host the first-ever chemical probe hackathon here at Merck to support open science, bright young talent and boost biochemical research.This will not be the last hackathon.” said Dr. Ulrich Betts, Senior Vice President Innovation at Merck in Darmstadt.
Susanne Müller-Knapp is Operations Director and Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the Chemical Probes Portal. Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) Frankfurt, one of the organizers, reflected on the event and said: We also hope that this kind of event will enable everyone to take a more critical look at the compounds that are being used to investigate protein targets. “
The students also enjoyed their day. Her Theresa Ehret, her PhD student at SGC Frankfurt, said: One of her highlights for me was learning how to critically examine the literature on chemical probes. This will definitely prove valuable in my future research efforts. “
Yeojin Kim, PhD student and crystallographer at SGC Frankfurt, agreed, “This is a great opportunity to learn a lot about compound evaluation from good coaches and young drug developers.”
Teamwork
This unique event combines the experience of medicinal chemists from the pharmaceutical industry, including: Merck and Boehringer Ingelheimthe academic knowledge of students and professionals SGC Frankfurt, University of Freiburg, Darmstadt University of Technology, University of Wurzburgand the Marburg University.
Professor Paul Workman, Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the Cancer Institute in London and Director of the Chemical Probes Portal, said: Especially Merck students, mentors, Portal staff and colleagues. I think it was a great success. It’s a win-win for all involved, and we plan to do more of these as the research community benefits from reviewing more probes. “
The Chemical Probe Portal is currently seeking partner organizations to host probe review hackathon events around the world. contact the team If you are interested as a host or attendee.
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