Nucleic acids-based medicinal chemistry that challenges the central dogma of molecular biology

—Pharmaceutical education with new therapeutic modalities—

Abstract

Nineteen years have already passed since the start of the six-year pharmaceutical education, and in line with the original intent of the transition from a four-year to a six-year education, the curriculum has been expanded to foster practical clinical skills (pharmacist training). On the other hand, the importance of basic pharmaceutical science and research should not be neglected in the six-year education curriculum. Students who graduate from the six-year pharmaceutical university are expected to play a wide range of roles, not only as clinical pharmacists in hospitals and dispensing pharmacies, but also as pharmaceutical researchers, administrators, and educators. In this article, we discuss the importance of the balance between “clinical training” and “basic research” in 6-year pharmaceutical education, as pointed out by new modality drugs such as nucleic acids-based drugs, with our recent research results.