Researchers from the University of Alberta launches the DrugBank, a free-access online database of detailed chemical, pharmaceutical, medical and molecular biological information on more than 3000 drug targets and 4100 approved or experimental drugs products.

Whether you're a patient, a doctor, a scientist, a pharmacist, or drug development researcher or just a simple fellow wanting information about a drug or a drug target, the DrugBank is an excellent search tool.

Together with data from the Human Genome Project, the DrugBank also aims to help in completing the human metabolome: small molecules required for maintenance growth and normal function of a cell.

"Drugs are molecules that appear in the serum and blood, but are not normal. We needed to be able to show what is not 'normal' in order to help uncover what is 'normal.' Since we needed to acquire all of this information for our project, we wanted to share this with the rest of the world as well," said Lori Querengesser, Genome Prairie Project manager.

The project will compile a database of all the metabolites in body fluids, such as urine and serum.

Source: University of Alberta Express News