Enzymatic tools for biotechnology and medicine

疾病的早期发现和随后的知情治疗对我们来说既是一个重大的挑战，也是一个改善医疗保健的重要机会。可悲的是，像癌症这样的疾病给患者和他们的家人带来了巨大的压力，给我们负担沉重的医疗体系带来了巨大的负担。事实上，随着我们的人口继续老龄化，癌症等疾病的流行以及对改进诊断和治疗的需求只会增加。另一方面，也有乐观的理由，因为癌症的早期发现极大地改善了患者的前景。乳腺癌和卵巢癌的成功筛查项目已经清楚地证明了这一点，这些项目对患者的存活率产生了戏剧性的影响。在我们早期了解和识别癌症的斗争中，最有希望的工具之一是对我们的DNA进行微小的化学修饰，称为表观基因组。越来越多的证据表明，表观基因组既是癌症进展的关键指标，也是影响者。这些对遗传物质的化学修饰在我们的一生中会发生变化，以应对包括衰老、环境和疾病在内的许多因素。我们在这一研究领域不断扩大的知识正在推动诊断学的发展，使个人的表观基因组能够被监测为疾病的预测、预后和诊断标记。然而，表观基因组信息的读出通常是困难和昂贵的，因此迫切需要开发方法来简化这一过程。该项目将开发生物化学、分析和最先进的成像解决方案，以支持这一目标的实现。我的团队将准备小分子(辅因子)和特别选择的酶的组合，这些组合可以用来跟踪和测试我们细胞中的表观基因组修饰。我们的最终目标是与医学和临床科学家合作，开发和应用简单的测试，以提高我们对个别患者的治疗做出明智决定的能力。

The early detection and subsequent informed treatment of disease is both a significant challenge and a significant opportunity for us to improve healthcare. Sadly, diseases like cancer put a tremendous strain on the sufferer and their families and a significant burden on our laden healthcare system. Indeed, as our population continues to age the prevalence of diseases such as cancer and the need for improved diagnostics and therapies will only increase. On the other hand, there is cause for optimism as the early detection of cancer dramatically improves the outlook for sufferers. This has been clearly demonstrated by successful screening programs for breast and ovarian cancers that have had a dramatic impact on the survival rates for sufferers.One of the most promising tools in our battle to understand and identify cancer at an early stage comes in the form of small chemical modifications of our DNA, referred to as our epigenome. There is increasing evidence that the epigenome is both a critical indicator and influencer of the progression of cancer. These chemical modifications to genetic material change throughout our lives in response to many factors including ageing, the environment and disease. Our expanding knowledge in this area of research is driving the development of diagnostics that allow an individual's epigenome to be monitored as a predictive, prognostic and diagnostic marker of disease. However, epigenomic information is typically difficult and expensive to read-out and as a result there is a pressing need for the development of methodology that streamlines this process.This project will develop biochemistry, analytical and state-of-the-art imaging solutions that underpin the realization of this goal. My group will prepare combinations of small molecules (cofactors) and specially selected enzymes that can be used to track and test epigenomic modifications in our cells. Our ultimate aim is to work with medical and clinical scientists to develop and apply simple tests that will improve our ability to make informed decisions about the treatment of individual patients.