The “Virtual Assay” software developed by researchers at the University of Oxford uses computer (in silico) models, based on human data - a fast, cheap and potentially more effective alternative to experimental testing.
Rather than a one-model-fits-all design, this software uses a population-based approach, which is an important step towards personalised medicine. Indeed, some drugs can have harmful side effects only for certain parts of the population, for example, causing arrhythmias or sudden cardiac death in people with a specific genetic mutation or disease.