Chemical Phenomics Initiative

Welcome to the Chemical Phenomics Initiative website. This work is supported by NIH/NIGMS 1R01GM118557-01 grant: Chemical Genetic Analysis of Vertebrate Development. In this work, we identify novel small molecules that perturb embryonic signaling pathways in highly specific ways. In a manner analogous to classic forward mutagenesis screens, a high-throughput chemical screen is conducted in zebrafish for small molecules that specifically modulate early embryonic development. As with forward genetic screens, the chemical genetic analysis can lead to the discovery of novel components or previously unanticipated signaling interactions involved. However importantly, since disturbances in developmental pathways are involved in the pathogenesis of many human illnesses, small molecules that selectively target them have significant translational and therapeutic potential.

This website is a portal of chemotype-phenotype relationships that is being made available to academic researchers as "seeds" for innovation and collaborations. This public site has structures "deidentified" but a database of identifiers and compound structures are being made available upon request through a web form on the left. These "seeds" will lower the energy/cost threshold for researchers to enter into chemical biology and develop new research tools that will benefit their specific niche.  The vision for the portal is to accelerate translational discoveries and develop new research tools and therapeutic compounds while allowing intellectual property (IP) to remain protected so roads to commercialization will remain available for future therapeutic development. The general structure of the chemical phenomics initiative is outlined below.