As the Genetics Society of America’s Model Organism to Human Biology (MOHB): Cancer Genetics Meeting in Washington, D.C. drew to a close, it was clear that the mantra for drug discovery to treat cancers in the post-genomic era is pathways. Pathways are ordered series of actions that occur as cells move from one state, through a series of intermediate states, to a final action. Because model organisms – fruit flies, roundworms, yeast, zebrafish and others – are related to humans, they share many of the same pathways, but in systems that are much easier to study. Focusing on pathways in model organisms can therefore reveal new drug targets that may be useful in treating human disease.
