Our Approach
Reverse Engineering/Forward Simulation (REFSTM)
The painstaking and time-consuming laboratory research of the past five decades has uncovered as little as five percent of all human biological "circuitry." This lack of knowledge places high importance on robust methods that can elucidate the vast and unknown areas of normal and disease biology.
By bringing together new high-throughput biological technologies and supercomputing power, GNS has developed the critical tool to drive drug discovery and development in the post-genomic age. Reverse Engineering/Forward Simulation (REFSTM) is a technology that systematically turns multiple layers of biologically relevant data into an unprecedented view of human biology and disease as a "whole."
REFSTM begins with raw biological data (genetic, genomic, epigenetic, proteomic, metabolomic and environmental) and rapidly performs billions upon billions of calculations to determine how the molecules interact with one another in the complete system (Reverse Engineering).
These computer-assembled models are then queried rapidly through billions of in silico experiments (Forward Simulation) to discover the highest-impact molecular targets for the disease being studied and the corresponding efficacy and toxicity markers related to specific drug treatments. These findings are then tested in both the laboratory and the clinic, enabling a faster, more-focused drug discovery and development process.
Specifically, REFSTM empowers GNS and our partners to rapidly and effectively:
- Identify the molecular causes of disease, rather than those factors that are merely correlative, thereby identifying novel, first-in-class targets, and efficacy and toxicity markers;
- Improve the quality of pre-clinical drug candidates and the probability of a drug candidate's Phase I/II and subsequent successes through improved understanding of the mechanisms of efficacy and toxicity;
- Guide the design of clinical trials by stratifying the patient population to maximize the response rate of patients in clinical trials; and
- Help physicians improve treatment decisions for patients with complex diseases.
For examples of how REFSTM has been applied, see Partnering with GNS