MOLECULAR MODELING AND RATIONAL DRUG DESIGN- A PERSPECTIVE

Enormous progress had been made in the study of biological macromolecule primarily due to two essential methods, X-ray crystallography and interactive computer graphics. The tools necessary to access and utilize these data are at our fingertips thanks to the World Wide Web and Internet. We here illustrate the use of the web by a beginning student and compare the results with experimentally determined structures of two human matrix metalloproteinases. We then discuss a facile graphics modelling program, PRONTO. Finally, we speculate on what science might be like when some of the current bottle-necks are removed.