UOMO Project, or “Man simulator”, aims to bring us closer to a computational system to simulate the effects of a new drug on the human body and to predict drug safety and efficacy. System is based on the integration of different kinds of scientific data: molecular structures; biological activity data, such as bioassay results; pharmacological data describing the effects of molecules on the human body. Data are collected from different sources (e.g. publications, PubChem, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)), and are curated to to remove redundancies and assert coherence. The resulting datasets are analyzed with machine learning algorithms to extract important patterns and relations between molecular structrure and activity, from which derive predictive activity models The end result is that for a given new molecule, the system will provide a probable activity profile, and flag high risk situations. The “Man simulator” will be used in virtual screening for new lead compounds and to identify drug candidates that have a high risk of unintended side effects. UOMO project is realized in collaboration with Luca Pani, head of Section of Neuropharmacology of the Institute of Biomedical Technologies, Italian National Research Council, and is funded by the Regione Autonoma della Sardegna.
