A computer program that pairs gene information with drug data may help resurrect old medicines for new uses, including an over-the-counter ulcer pill that may be used to treat lung cancer, Stanford University scientists said. By searching through a National Institutes of Health database that catalogs the results of genomic studies, researchers matched symptoms of diseases with the effects of drugs, yielding 1,000 potential new treatments, said Atul Butte, the study’s lead researcher. The scientists described their work in two reports published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
