Natural Products, Synthetic Biology and the Formulation of Novel Antimicrobials

利什曼病和严重的真菌病都是由复杂的真核病原体引起的全球性问题，我们只有有限的几种药物可供使用，而这些药物正受到日益增加的耐药性的威胁。随着传统的小分子药物筛选和合理的药物设计无法发现新的抗利什曼动物和抗真菌药物，人们的注意力再次转向自然界-大多数抗菌素的原始来源。在一个涉及学术界和工业界合作伙伴的合作项目中，我们将确定和评估针对利什曼原虫和白色念珠菌的改性天然产物抗菌剂的功效、作用方式和临床潜力。

Leishmaniasis and serious fungal disease, both caused by complex eukaryotic pathogens, are global problems for which we are only equipped with a limited array of drugs which are threatened by increasing resistance. With the failure of conventional small molecule drug screening and rational drug design to reveal new antileishmanials and antifungals, attention has turned once again to the natural world - the original source of most antimicrobials. In a collaborative project, involving partners from academia and industry, we will identify and evaluate the efficacy, mode of action and clinical potential of modified natural product antimicrobials against Leishmania species and Candida albicans.