Issue 123 April/May 2012 CONTENTS
Laboratory Informatics News and products
Tried and tested
Beth sharp looks at informatics in pharmaceutical testing labs
High-Performance Computing News and products
Accelerating drug discovery
What impact has HPC had on pharma? Beth Sharp finds out
The compute equivalent of the Mars landing 34 Te soſtware challenges ahead are many, as Paul Schreier explains
Modelling and Engineering News and products
4 8
BEYOND NUTHE
A STATISTICS SPECIAL
Products Reviews
27 30 Perfecting pills MBERS
14 15
We present Felix Grant’s latest verdicts
18
and potions Felix Grant investigates the role of data analytic software in pharmacology
Case Studies
An exploration of real-world applications of statistical software
Painting by
numbers Felix Grant turns his attention to statistical analysis in the arts
40
Visualising the future of medicine 42 We explore the possibilities presented through biomedical modelling
Integrating for success
Siân Harris investigates the potential of molecular modelling
Resources Suppliers’ directory
Inside view 45 Interviews 25
SAS’s Laurie Miles and NAG’s Stephen Langdale share their views
23 21 Body of research
As I write this, the world’s largest biomedical database has opened its doors to researchers. Te UK Biobank contains medical, lifestyle and genetic information from 500,000 middle-aged British volunteers, making it the most detailed collection of data of its kind. In addition to blood, saliva and urine
samples, more than 1,000 categories of information per participant will be made available to scientists in the hope of aiding medical research in the treatment, and indeed prevention, of disease. Tis presents an invaluable opportunity – one that can be fully realised through the use of scientific computing. Computational models are already
impacting the biomedical field as projects seek to turn visualisations, imaging and raw data into virtual humans (p.42), while molecular modelling continues to drive drug discovery. Siân Harris’ report on the subject is on page 45. Elsewhere in this issue, I explore the informatics landscape within pharma testing labs (p.8) and take a look at the role of HPC in that sector (p.30).
48 50
Beth Sharp Editor
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APRIL/MAY 2012 3
Cover lculig/Sebastian Kaulitzki/
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