Hurdles in basic science translation

Abstract

In the past century there have been incredible advances in the field of medical research, but what hinders translation of this knowledge into effective treatment for human disease? There is an increasing focus on the failure of many research breakthroughs to be translated through the clinical trial process and into medical practice. In this mini review, we will consider some of the reasons that findings in basic medical research fail to become translated through clinical trials and into basic medical practices. We focus in particular on the way that human disease is modeled, the understanding we have of how our targets behave in vivo, and also some of the issues surrounding reproducibility o..