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www.ChemicalProbes.org, a new crowdsourcing initiative

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The Superti-Furga laboratory at CeMM is part of a new crowdsourcing initiative, a wiki site called www.chemicalprobes.org that recommends appropriate chemical probes for biological targets, provides guidance on their use, and documents their limitations. Chemical probes are chemical tool compounds that enable scientists to study proteins in living cells without genetic modifications and which may be interesting drug targets to treat diseases like cancer. Many chemical probes produce spurious results that can lead researchers to wrong conclusions about the proteins and drug molecules they are studying. The use of optimal and well-documented probes and the exchange of best practices will help to improve the quality of research, will save time and money, and might have a huge impact on the understanding of fundamental biology and the identification of new therapeutic opportunities. 

For more information please read the following publication, or visit the chemical probes website.
Arrowsmith CH, Audia JE, Austin C, Baell J, Bennett J, Blagg J, Bountra C, Brennan PE, Brown PJ, Bunnage ME, Buser-Doepner C, Campbell RM, Carter AJ, Cohen P, Copeland RA, Cravatt B, Dahlin JL, Dhanak D, Edwards AM, Frye SV, Gray N, Grimshaw CE, Hepworth D, Howe T, Huber KV, Jin J, Knapp S, Kotz JD, Kruger RG, Lowe D, Mader MM, Marsden B, Mueller-Fahrnow A, Müller S, O'Hagan RC, Overington JP, Owen DR, Rosenberg SH, Roth B, Ross R, Schapira M, Schreiber SL, Shoichet B, Sundström M, Superti-Furga G, Taunton J, Toledo-Sherman L, Walpole C, Walters MA, Willson TM, Workman P, Young RN, Zuercher WJ. The promise and peril of chemical probes. Nat Chem Biol. 2015 Jul 21;11(8):536-41. doi: 10.1038/nchembio.1867.

Commentaries:
Science Magazine, Biochemists launch crowdsourcing site to combat bad data
Nature News, Scientists unite to warn against flawed chemical reagents

Funding:
www.chemicalprobes.org is supported by the Wellcome Trust