Random
screening: In
drug
discovery, the search for
lead
compounds by looking for biological activity in random
compounds. Because of the number of compounds that may be involved
and the number of different screens for biological activity,
random screening is time-consuming and expensive, but can result
in discovery of
lead
compounds not expected by more focused screening. With the
advent of efficient
library
synthesis, automated screening methods, and rapid gene
sequencing, random screening is no longer widely used.