Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is one of the top ten global public health threats facing humanity. As such, there is an immediate need for new therapies. Antibiotics that target bacterial RNA are an untapped strategy in part because of the lack of software options to accelerate their discovery. To address this problem, McGill researchers are collaborating with the Montreal-based company Molecular Forecaster Inc. to develop software that enables rapid virtual screening of new RNA-targeting antibiotics. We will use biochemistry assays to validate and refine the software and to confirm new drug candidates. Our work will first focus on developing new antibiotics to bacteria for which the World Health Organization has identified an urgent need. However, we anticipate that the software developed in this project can be leveraged to develop drugs to a wide range of bacteria as well as other therapeutics that interact with RNA.
Lead Genome Centre: Génome Québec
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| Joshua | Pottel | Molecular Forecaster |