Phylogenetic Methods in Drug Discovery

In recent decades, growth of computing power has facilitated powerful techniques for reconstructing evolutionary relationships from online genetic and proteomic databases. These methods are useful tools for pharmacologists for analyzing relationships between receptors and associated enzymes. Phylogenetic analysis can help generate hypotheses and leads for experimentation. Reconstruction of molecular phylogenies for the nonspecialist is described in this article using the example of the orphaned g protein coupled receptor GPR18.