Beyond annotation transfer by homology: Novel protein-function prediction methods to assist drug discovery

Every entirely sequenced genome reveals 100s to 1000s of protein sequences for which the only annotation available is 'hypothetical protein'. Thus, in the human genome and in the genomes of pathogenic agents there could be 1000s of potential, unexplored drug targets. Computational prediction of protein function can play a role in studying these targets. We shall review the challenges, research approaches and recently developed tools in the field of computational function-prediction and we will discuss the ways these issues can change the process of drug discovery.