UpbeatChemists in Spain found a light-powered shortcut for building the libraries drug hunters dream in
To find new medicines, chemists build vast 'libraries' of molecules, each tagged with a tiny DNA barcode so winners can be identified. The bottleneck is chemistry that works without damaging the DNA. A team led by Manuel Nappi at the CiQUS institute of the University of Santiago de Compostela has added a new tool: using a catalyst and light to activate carbonyl compounds — common building blocks — gently enough for DNA to survive. Tested with AstraZeneca on DNA fragments 59 units long, the barcodes stayed readable, opening new shapes of molecule for drug discovery. The work is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
The upbeat factora gentler flash of light could widen the search for tomorrow's medicines to whole families of molecules that were previously out of reach.
SDG 9 · Industry, innovation and infrastructure — Mechanism: tech innovation
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