The present invention provides methods for identifying targets of a drug
in a cell by comparing (i) the effects of the drug on a wild-type cell,
(ii) the effects on a wild-type cell of modifications to a putative
target of the drug, and (iii) the effects of the drug on a wild-type cell
which has had the putative target modified of the drug. In various
embodiments, the effects on the cell can be determined by measuring gene
expression, protein abundances, protein activities, or a combination of
such measurements. In various embodiments, modifications to a putative
target in the cell can be made by modifications to the genes encoding the
target, modification to abundances of RNAs encoding the target,
modifications to abundances of target proteins, or modifications to
activities of the target proteins. The present invention also provides
methods for drug development based on the methods for identifying drug
targets.