1. The Sanity Inspector on October 3, 2012 1:29 PM writes...

Dr. Lowe, if you have any pull with the Corante webmasters, I wish they would give the website a thorough going-over. There's so much deadwood that, from the front page at least, it's hard to find any new content. I enjoyed the site a lot in the mid-Aughties, and I hate to see it turn into a mostly-dead pundit ranch.

2. MoMo on October 3, 2012 2:09 PM writes...

@1 I agree, other than Ol' Whitesides, who has done more chemistry than God, the rest are errand boys, sent by grocery clerks, to collect the bills.

3. Sili on October 3, 2012 2:45 PM writes...

Funny, my suggestion would be Derek to move to another host.

I'm afraid I don't now how well Scienceblogs pays after the National Geographic takeover.

4. Lyle Langley on October 3, 2012 2:51 PM writes...

Nothing like a good old conference about Drug Discovery with speakers that have little experience doing so. Did your company compel you to mention this conference? Don't know that I've seen a bigger "yawner" of a conference.

5. MooMoo on October 3, 2012 3:37 PM writes...

MoMo; I bet those errand boys have published more significant work than you ever will. If they are errand boys, I guess that makes you a chimney sweep at best.

6. drug_hunter on October 3, 2012 5:29 PM writes...

I'll be there at least! I think I will learn a lot from all these speakers.

Thanks for the heads up Derek.

7. Dr. Zoidberg on October 4, 2012 8:23 AM writes...

Thanks for the heads-up Derek.

8. MoMo on October 4, 2012 12:18 PM writes...

Say what you will MooMoo in this cyberspace.

Other than Whitesides how many drugs have these lecturers had go to Phase I, or further or companies brought to IPO? This should be the metric here- not how many publications.

Publications do not meet shit in drug discovery and you know that, so what is the attraction here?

A bunch of scientists playing drug discoverers.

Now give me a Julian Adams lecture series anyday. Here is a guy who knows how to discover drugs, has done it, and knows what kind of assholes populate the drug discovery landscape- and is not a poseur and is in Boston.

where is he on the agenda?

9. newnickname on October 4, 2012 12:30 PM writes...

@8: "Other than Whitesides how many drugs have these lecturers had go to Phase I, or further or companies brought to IPO?"

Leroy Hood invented (or contributed to the commercialization of) the DNA sequencer, protein synthesizer, DNA synthesizer, etc.. "He has founded or co-founded more than 10 companies, including Applied Biosystems and Amgen, that commercialize technologies."

10. MooMoo on October 4, 2012 12:41 PM writes...

MoMo, again, your condescending piffle speaks only to your own woeful ignorance. Among other things, Hood pioneered the DNA sequencer, Arun Ghosh invented darunavir, Eric Olson led the development of Vertex's CF drug and Jay Bradner was recently profiled in Science for his work on epigenetic drugs. And you must not have the faintest idea about drug discovery if you think that publications contribute nothing to the fundamentals of the science.

11. Cellbio on October 4, 2012 3:24 PM writes...

Wasn't it Hunkapiller who was really behind everything Applied Biosystems? And Hood had virtually nothing to do with Amgen's success. Just saying. He is a visionary, very successful, but gets more credit than he deserves.

12. Anonymous on October 4, 2012 3:37 PM writes...

MooMoo - Darunavir was first exemplified in a Searle patent (US6046190A Table 16K). Arun Ghosh is not listed as an inventor as he did not work there.

13. MoMo on October 4, 2012 5:43 PM writes...

Condescending piffle? There is nothing condescending about anything I have stated.

But keep up the hero-worship and go "learn" something.

This is America and how you spend your time instead of really working is up to you.

Now get back to the lab and create something!

Not just co-opt it!

14. MooMoo on October 4, 2012 8:27 PM writes...

"This is America and how you spend your time instead of really working is up to you"

Case in point: MoMo, who spends all his/her time here broadcasting sanctimonious condescension instead of "getting into the lab and creating something". How about you try to accomplish a tenth of what these guys have accomplished? I thought not...

15. Anon on October 4, 2012 9:14 PM writes...

Nice hypocrisy #14!

16. drug_hunter on October 4, 2012 9:50 PM writes...

I'm still going... guess I have more to learn than some other folks.

17. Jay Bradner on October 4, 2012 10:08 PM writes...

Thanks Derek. Was excited to be invited and also looking forward to the day. MoMo please let me know what I should do with your dry cleaning. Best. Jay

18. Sebastian on October 5, 2012 1:39 AM writes...

Fine trolling sir, fine trolling indeed

19. KtheKnight on October 5, 2012 4:57 AM writes...

Hi MoMo
Just read wikipedia for your ignorance:
Darunavir is a drug used to treat HIV infection. It is in the protease inhibitor class. Developed by pharmaceutical company Tibotec, darunavir is named after Arun K. Ghosh, the chemist who discovered the molecule at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 23, 2006.
And during his time at Merck Arun introduced chiral aminoindanol into drug discovery, just search the papers which using this chiral intermediate in drug or chiral synthesis.

20. MooMoo on October 5, 2012 10:23 AM writes...

#15: Unlike MoMo this is the first time I have commented on the blog. I rest my case.

21. MoMo on October 5, 2012 11:21 AM writes...

MooMoo,

OK you win the Dominance Competition! Good Boy, Here's a Treat for You!

Now get back to work

22. MooMoo on October 8, 2012 9:05 AM writes...

#21: I rest my case again.

23. MoMo on October 16, 2012 9:13 AM writes...

MooMoo and Jay Bradner,

Meet me at the next ACS meeting at their booth when the expo opens.

We can all have a good laugh!

Now sharpen those pencils for Big Meeting!

Its time to learn something!

24. MooMoo on November 1, 2012 4:03 PM writes...

23: Instead, why don't you show up at this conference and tell all the participants that their work doesn't mean squat?