Guides & research, page 3

In-depth guides on protein analysis, molecular docking, drug discovery, and bioinformatics tools.

Antibodies · 11 min
mBER and ColabDesign metrics explained
What esm_score, i_ptm, i_pae, plddt, ptm, pae and seq_ent mean in mBER and ColabDesign output, which direction is better, and the cutoffs the mBER authors, BindCraft and other studies use.
Structures · 11 min
How to open a PDB file
Open a PDB file in your browser, in PyMOL, ChimeraX or VMD, or in a text editor on Windows and Mac, and learn to read its HEADER, ATOM and HETATM lines.
Drugs · 14 min
PAINS filters and pan-assay interference compounds
PAINS filters are 480 substructure alerts that Baell and Holloway published in 2010 to flag compounds that often give false hits in screening assays. ProteinIQ ran them on 2,104 approved small-molecule drugs in ChEMBL 37: 122 (5.8%) trigger at least one alert, led by catechols such as levodopa and quinones such as doxorubicin.
Drugs · 13 min
PROTACs and molecular glue degraders in clinical trials
By ProteinIQ's count, 102 targeted protein degraders had been dosed in human trials by October 29, 2026: 54 PROTACs, 28 molecular glue degraders, 7 other degraders and 13 of undisclosed type. Of these, 73 are still in development and two are approved.
Drugs · 11 min
Drug discovery statistics [2026]
Current drug discovery statistics on FDA novel drug approvals, Phase 1 success rates, development time and cost, biosimilars, cell and gene therapies, AAV products, CRISPR trials and AI-discovered drugs.
Drugs · 10 min
Drug discovery trends in 2026
FDA's drug center approved 47 novel drugs by October 20, 2026, more than in all of 2025, while the global pipeline stopped growing for the first time in three decades and R&D returns came to depend on GLP-1 drugs.
Drugs · 13 min
How long do clinical trials take?
New drugs take a median 8.3 years from the first human study to FDA approval. Our analysis of 26,680 completed trials shows how long Phase 1, 2 and 3 trials last.
Drugs · 10 min
How long does a drug patent last?
A drug patent lasts 20 years from filing in the US and EU. Extensions and regulatory exclusivity shift that date, and new US drugs average 12 to 15 years before the first generic.
Proteins · 9 min
How long does a western blot take?
A western blot takes 1 to 2 days with an overnight primary antibody at 4 °C, or about 5 to 7 hours when every step fits in one day. Compare step times for the gel, wet, semi-dry and dry transfer, blocking, antibodies and detection.
Genetics · 11 min
How long does mRNA last in a cell?
Most mRNAs in mammalian cells have half-lives of a few hours, and bacterial mRNAs last about 5 minutes. See medians by organism and method, the shortest- and longest-lived transcripts, and how long vaccine mRNA stays detectable.
Drugs · 8 min
How many antibiotics are there?
The WHO classified 268 antibiotics used in humans in 2025: 93 Access, 145 Watch and 30 Reserve. Counts by class, recent approvals and other lists explain why other totals differ.
Cells · 7 min
How many ATP are produced in glycolysis?
Glycolysis makes 4 ATP and spends 2, a net gain of 2 ATP per glucose. See which steps spend and make ATP, what its 2 NADH are worth with and without oxygen, and why glycogen gives 3.
Cells · 7 min
How many ATP are produced in the Krebs cycle?
One turn of the Krebs cycle makes 1 ATP or GTP, 3 NADH and 1 FADH2. Per glucose it turns twice: 2 ATP directly, or about 20 once oxidative phosphorylation spends its NADH and FADH2.
Genetics · 9 min
How many chromosomes do humans have?
Humans have 46 chromosomes in 23 pairs, and sperm and eggs have 23. See which cells have 0, 92 or more, how chromatids are counted, and why apes have 48.
Drugs · 8 min
How many FDA-approved drugs are there?
By our count of the FDA's October 2026 Drugs@FDA data, 26,899 approved drug products are currently marketed as prescription or OTC medicines, containing about 2,170 active ingredients. CDER has approved 1,434 novel drugs since 1985.
Drugs · 4 min
How many medicines are there in the world?
There is no single worldwide count of medicines. DrugBank lists 4,815 approved drugs and 19,879 total drug entries, while the 2025 WHO Essential Medicines List contains 523 medicines.
Proteins · 7 min
How many peptide bonds are in a peptide?
A linear peptide has one fewer peptide bond than amino acid residues, so a tripeptide has 2. See worked counts for insulin, cyclic peptides and glutathione, and what a peptide bond is.
Genetics · 9 min
How many RNA polymerases do eukaryotes have?
Eukaryotes have three nuclear RNA polymerases: Pol I makes ribosomal RNA, Pol II makes mRNA and Pol III makes tRNA and 5S rRNA. Land plants add Pol IV and Pol V, and mitochondria and chloroplasts carry their own enzymes.
Genetics · 9 min
How much DNA do cousins share?
First cousins share 12.5% of their DNA by descent on average, about 866 cM in the Shared cM Project. Second cousins share 3.125%, third cousins 0.78% and double first cousins 25%, and some third cousins share none.
Genetics · 12 min
How much DNA is needed for sequencing?
Most sequencing libraries start from 1 ng to 1 µg of DNA: about 10 ng for an amplicon panel, 100 to 500 ng for an Illumina human genome, 500 ng to 1 µg for PacBio HiFi, and 100 ng to 1 µg for Nanopore.
Drugs · 11 min
How much is the pharmaceutical industry worth?
Global medicine spending reached about 1.94 trillion US dollars in 2025. Compare how IQVIA, EFPIA and Evaluate measure the market, the largest drug companies by revenue, and what drives growth.
Genetics · 9 min
How much of the human genome is junk DNA?
About 1% of human DNA codes for protein and roughly 8 to 11% is under evolutionary constraint, leaving about 90% without a detectable function. ENCODE's 80% counted any biochemical activity.
Genetics · 10 min
How long does it take to sequence a human genome?
The Human Genome Project took 13 years. Today a sequencer reads a human genome in about 13 to 48 hours, the research record from DNA to variants is under four hours, and clinical results take 2 days to 4 weeks.
Proteins · 9 min
How big is the human proteome?
The human proteome has about 20,000 reference proteins, one per protein-coding gene, and about 94% of them have been detected. Isoforms and proteoforms raise the count far higher.

mBER and ColabDesign metrics explained

How to open a PDB file

PAINS filters and pan-assay interference compounds

PROTACs and molecular glue degraders in clinical trials

Drug discovery statistics [2026]

Drug discovery trends in 2026

How long do clinical trials take?

How long does a drug patent last?

How long does a western blot take?

How long does mRNA last in a cell?

How many antibiotics are there?

How many ATP are produced in glycolysis?

How many ATP are produced in the Krebs cycle?

How many chromosomes do humans have?

How many FDA-approved drugs are there?

How many medicines are there in the world?

How many peptide bonds are in a peptide?

How many RNA polymerases do eukaryotes have?

How much DNA do cousins share?

How much DNA is needed for sequencing?

How much is the pharmaceutical industry worth?

How much of the human genome is junk DNA?

How long does it take to sequence a human genome?

How big is the human proteome?