There are some 86,000 industrial chemicals in the U.S. marketplace used in a wide variety of ways, but the truth is, we know little about how they interact with the environment. A viable alternative is using mathematical chemistry to provide computer-driven properties instead. Calculations from the chemical structure can help chemists estimate its physical property, toxicity or potential as a new drug candidate.
This is the computational world where Subhash Basak spends his time.
“Drug discovery, for example, begins with a ‘lead’ compound, often found by serendipity, which has the therapeutic activity of interest, but not at a level to be useful as a drug,” Basak explains. “Companies produce tens of thousands of derivatives of the lead drug and keep testing until they discover one that works, the wonder drug.”
The age-old practice of estimating hazardous chemicals from their experimental properties and bioassay data is prohibitively costly, especially evaluating the large number of candidate chemicals and their possible offshoot products. That is why the current cost of discovering a new drug is estimated at around $1.5 billion.
Basak’s work blasts through the haystack to help find that proverbial needle… reducing the cost to develop new drugs and predicting the therapeutic potential and toxicity of libraries of drug candidates. These methods can also characterize DNA sequences and proteomics maps. A current use for this computerized methodology is unraveling the pathogenicity/pandemicity of the H5N1 Avian Flu.
And while Basak is well versed in all areas of mathematical and computational chemistry, software development, chemical risk assessment and new drug discovery, he wants to expand his knowledge in chemical-biological interactions to protect human health and the environment. He does this through collaborations with over 60 scientists around the world and interactions with peers involved in three different conferences on mathematical chemistry.
“Working with colleagues who come from diverse disciplines to do research in sustainability and environmental protection have provided great experiences for me at NRRI,” Basak says.
Basak enjoys reading philosophy, psychology and poetry in three languages: Sanskrit, English and Bengali.
Subhash’s favorites: