A Web-Based Chemoinformatics System for Drug Discovery

One of the key questions that must be addressed when implementing a chemoinformatics system is whether the tools will be designed for use by the expert user or by the “bench scientist.” This decision can impact not only the style of tools that are rolled out, but is also a factor in terms of how these tools are delivered to the end users. The system that we outline here was designed for use by the non-expert user. As such, the tools that we discuss are in many cases simplified versions of some common algorithms used in chemoinformatics. In addition, the focus is on how to distribute these tools using a web-services interface, which greatly simplifies delivering new protocols to the end user.