Therapeutic peptides: Historical perspectives, current development trends, and future directions.

Peptide therapeutics have played a notable role in medical practice since the advent of insulin therapy in the 1920s. Over 60 peptide drugs are approved in the United States and other major markets, and peptides continue to enter clinical development at a steady pace. Peptide drug discovery has diversified beyond its traditional focus on endogenous human peptides to include a broader range of structures identified from other natural sources or through medicinal chemistry efforts.

Quality assurance mechanisms for the unregulated research environment.

Discussions on research quality and reproducibility are appearing in the pages of scientific journals with heightened significance and gaining media attention. Many institutions have developed guidelines to address the topic of quality in basic research, but questions remain about how best to implement and monitor compliance. Herein we present quality assurance (QA) mechanisms developed specifically for the unregulated discovery research environment to preempt growing concerns arising in both academia and industry for data-driven applications of biotechnology.