Within the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Asst. Prof. Dr. Aslı Kutlu, the knowledge required for drug design for rare diseases is produced in our Molecular Modelling and Bioinformatics R&D Laboratory. With the studies, it is aimed to have an idea before proceeding to laboratory tests by modelling to make sense of the disease in computer environment and to develop new treatment methods.
In our laboratory, experiments are carried out using computers to understand how some rare diseases occur where there is not enough information. Computer simulations are used to obtain information about genetic changes that may cause the disease. Here, it is investigated how the genetic changes that cause the disease damage the body.
In fact, in addition to the genetic changes that cause the disease, the methods used also analyse how proteins interact with each other, how they work and how they change.
Using all this information, we are trying to find out which genetic changes cause the disease and how these changes affect the proteins in our body. Thus, we learn the causes of rare diseases better and prepare the ground for treatment methods.
Emphasising the inadequacy of drug design studies in the field of rare diseases and the importance of these studies for this reason, Dr. Kutlu said: ‘In our studies on rare diseases, we are trying to examine very small parts, namely atoms.