Research summary
Drug-resistant infections are an increasing burden for both hospitals and society at large. Despite this, surprisingly few new antibiotics have become available for clinical use in the past 50 years. Existing antibiotics only work on certain targets, such as the cell wall, DNA and protein biosynthesis. The increase of drug-resistant bacterial infections is believed to be largely due to the lack of new antibacterial medications.
Dr. Eric Brown, Canada Research Chair in Microbial Chemical Biology, is searching for new cracks in the armour of bacteria. To this end, he and his research team are using chemical biology and molecular genetics to probe the complex biology that underlies bacterial survival strategies. Ultimately, they hope to contribute to the search for new antibacterial therapeutics.