News from the John Innes Centre

A compound from the South African toothbrush tree inactivates a drug target for tuberculosis in a previously unseen way. Tuberculosis causes more deaths worldwide than any other infectious disease. At the same time as rates are increasing, resistance strains are emerging due, in part, to non-compliance with the treatment required. Current drugs are nearly 50 [...]

Scientists are collaborating on a new international research project to identify antibiotics that can kill tuberculosis and fight resistant strains. “We want to accelerate the discovery of new compounds that can be turned into effective drugs,” said Professor Tony Maxwell from the John Innes Centre, a key player in “More Medicines for Tuberculosis”, a new [...]

An antibiotic that binds to a well-established target in a novel and unexpected way could be the inspiration for designing new, more potent antibacterial drugs. “A completely new way to beat bacteria is an exciting find at a time when resistance to existing antibiotics is growing,” said Professor Tony Maxwell from the John Innes Centre, [...]

International scientists working on new drug discovery targets for cancer and bacterial diseases are meeting in Norwich next week to share their latest findings. “The meeting presents exciting new opportunities for scientific collaborations and helps to establish Norwich as one of the top places for scientific research in the UK,” says meeting co-organiser Prof. Tony [...]

A new company has joined the fight against MRSA and cancer. Researchers at the John Innes Centre (Norwich) have launched a new company, Inspiralis Ltd, based around their expertise in DNA topoisomerases – a group of enzymes that help DNA molecules to unravel and wind up properly and not to become tangled during replication. “DNA [...]

A team of John Innes Centre (JIC) scientists led by Prof Tony Maxwell have developed a new technique that will help search for new anti-cancer and anti-bacterial drugs more quickly and accurately. The researchers found a new way of measuring the activity of a group of enzymes called DNA topoisomerases that help package DNA, the [...]

Antibiotic resistance is a major problem worldwide and there is an urgent need for new antibiotics to be developed. Potential new drugs are usually made in the lab which is complicated and time-consuming. An international team of scientists are using bacteria found naturally in the soil to produce new antibiotics in the fight against drug-resistant [...]