Classical Pharmacology

Classical pharmacology relies on physically screening an organism after it has been treated with a drug or medicine to see if the chemicals used had a desirable effect on the organism’s overall health. When testing substances, researchers may screen a single, intact cell or an entire organism, depending on what the study calls for. Classical pharmacology is largely an experimental practice, because researchers need to rely on trial and error to determine which drugs work for treating a specific ailment and which do not.

Traditionally, classical pharmacology has been the basis for how new drugs are discovered. Chemical compounds are screened in either animal or cellular models to determine if these compounds have a positive effect on the phenotype (physical characteristics) of an organism or a ...