Explainer: What happens in medical research before clinical trials begin?
When scientific advances burst into the news, such as a new medication to treat COVID-19 or a new concept like CRISPR for gene editing, people get a glimpse of how a scientific idea becomes a treatment or a tool.
But what's the full story?
Where did that idea come from? What happens in the research lab before clinical trials begin? How is scientific discovery transformed into a potential therapy that is ready to be tested in trials with human participants?
Get these answers and more by watching "The Discovery Science Journey" to learn in three minutes:
- How the process starts in the lab with discovery science, where researchers ask fundamental questions, such as, "What changes in a cell lead to cancer?"
- What happens next, as researchers team up to combine their knowledge and speed up the pace of discovery.
- How researchers navigate the regulations that safeguard the health of clinical trial participants and prepare a discovery to enter clinical trials.
The process of scientific discovery can be a long, exciting journey. But even when a discovery doesn't lead to a therapy — or doesn't lead there yet — research teams often uncover valuable information: new knowledge to advance the science of medicine.
When a discovery is ready, the next step is clinical trials. With human participants, clinical trials test whether a medical intervention, such as a drug, device or medical procedure, should move into patient care.
Watch this companion video, "The Clinical Trial Journey," to learn more about how clinical trials work.
— Caitlin Doran, May 16, 2022
Related Posts

The fungal infection Candida auris is a concern in health care facilities because the infection spreads easily, resists drug therapy and is difficult to treat.

When a healthy 20-year-old in Rockland County, New York, presented in an emergency room earlier this year with sudden leg paralysis, the diagnosis of polio ...

Vaccines have protected people from deadly diseases for generations. Could they also help fight cancer? Mayo Clinic researchers are working to develop personalized therapeutic cancer vaccines ...