Clinical laboratory IT solutions 'work best with real-world tests'

The best way to use clinical laboratory IT solutions is to combine them with real test tube experiments, according to one researcher.

Britta Bonn of the department of chemistry at the University of Gothenburg explains that advances in recent years have allowed clinical laboratory IT solutions to be used to perform "in silico" testing of drugs.

This simulates processes such as metabolism in the human liver, helping to determine whether any toxic by-products might occur or whether the drug would be dissipated too quickly in the body.

However, Ms Bonn adds that the best approach may still be to perform test tube analysis in vitro and then use computer systems to analyse the real-world results.

"My research demonstrates the benefits of combining traditional laboratory experiments with computer-based calculation models to understand and explain how the body's various enzymes interact with a drug," she says.

The University of Gothenburg's research activities have been recognised with a series of awards in recent years, including the presentation of a Nobel Prize.