Chemical genetics-an overview

Chemical genetics has emerged in the past decade as a complementary approach to illuminate biological function through screens of diverse small molecules (bioprobes) and is one of the new molecular genetics in which mutations in classical genetics are replaced by specific chemicals called small molecules/bioprobes. Chemical genetics aims to identify small molecules that either activate or deactivate protein functions using a combination of chemical and biological methods. Compared to classical genetics methods, the effects of small molecules are generally fast, reversible, tunable, easily accessible, can be initiated and studied at different stages in the development of the organism. A chemical genetic screen involves three important tools, a chemical library, a robust biological assay and a screening platform Diversity Oriented Synthesis provides access to diverse chemical structures rapidly using solid phase organic synthesis, robotics and information sciences. The development of a tagged triazine library containing a built-in linker has provided a straight forward transition from phenotypic screening to target identification. Chemical genetics has became a fruitful grund for the identification of lead molecules and is fast advancing to answer many questions about the function, structure, affinity and location of all the proteins within a living cell utilizing many techniques spanning many disciplines. In near future, chemical genetics may have a great impact on agricultural development by lessening heat, cold and drought tolerance to grow crops.