activity of a range of molecules. As the biological activities of new molecules become available, the pharmacophore model can be updated to further refine it. Applications In modern computational chemistry, pharmacophores are used to define the essential features of one or more molecules with the same biological activity. A database of diverse chemical compounds can then be searched for more molecules which share the same features arranged in the same relative orientation. Pharmacophores are also used as the starting point for developing 3D-QSAR models. Such tools and a related concept of "privileged structures", which are "defined as molecular frameworks which are able of providing useful ligands for more than one type of receptor or enzyme target by judicious structural modifications", aid in drug discovery. History Historically, pharmacophores were established by Lemont Kier, who first mentions the concept in 1967 and uses the term in a publication in 1971. The development of the concept is often erroneously accredited to Paul Ehrlich. However neither the alleged source nor any of his other works mention the term "pharmacophore" or make use of the concept. See also Cheminformatics Molecule mining Pharmaceutical company QSAR in silico References Further reading External links The following computer software packages enable the user to model the pharmacophore using a variety of computational chemistry methods: Discovery Studio LigandScout Phase MOE - Pharmacophore Discovery ICM-Chemist ZINCPharmer Pharmit Medicinal chemistry Cheminformatics