Source: Effat Emamian and Ali Abdi

The map of the human genome was expected to spark a revolution in drug discovery. But cells' behavior is determined by the interactions of hundreds of different proteins in what are known as signaling pathways, and figuring out which interactions go awry in disease has proved much harder than people thought.

Now, a study led by scientists affiliated with the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has used circuit analysis to identify the molecules that play the biggest roles in cells' signaling pathways. The researchers believe that their work can save drug researchers time and money by identifying promising drug targets.