Opening the single cell door

Advanced single cell analysis is an emerging method of developing new drugs, scientists have reported at the Queenstown Molecular Biology Meetings in Shanghai.

According to a report by Science Daily, researchers from the University of Freiburg have created an entirely new map of the brain's own immune system by analyzing single cells. Now scientists are using the same method to develop drugs.

“Today, people are requiring more effective drugs than ever, and thus we have to turn to new technologies,” said Wang Mingwei, director of the National Center for Drug Screening. 

“Single-cell analysis can help us develop more effective and reliable drugs that can get to the sick sites more accurately.”

The meeting, themed “Drug Discovery and Technology Innovation,” was held by the National Center for Drug Screening and Pudong Engineers’ Association.

A total of 144 researchers have been invited to give speeches at the two-day meetings.

Of them, 64 were from overseas, with more than a dozen internationally renowned scholars including 2013 Nobel laureate in chemistry Michael Levitt.

“This year, we have many new guests from  less-developed countries such as Peru and Myanmar," Wang said. 

"We will work together to develop new drugs to treat infectious diseases that spread in their countries, and we will help to foster drug makers for them."