Recipients

The Molecular Design Research Group (MDRG) uses synchrotron X-rays to determine molecular structure, knowledge which can guide development of new antibiotics. The group is working on bacteria such as S. aureus, the most common cause of staph infections and a cause of a range of other illnesses. Since drug-resistant strains of S. aureus have been found, the team is working on developing new ways to target such infections. The MDRG is studying processes uniquely required for bacterial growth and development, such as how S. aureus builds its cell walls, in order to kill the bacteria selectively by inhibiting these processes. S. aureus also expels harmful substances from its cells using proteins called multidrug transporters. The MDRG needs to understand the structure of these proteins in order to develop drugs to inhibit this. Knowledge gained through this research may also be used to study other virulent multidrug resistant bacteria.

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