Synthesis and Chemical Biology
The Reading Synthesis and Chemical Biology group is an interdisciplinary research team concerned with the design of new methods to make novel chemical substances to be used to enable interdisciplinary scientific attacks on problems of societal importance. Synthetic methods allow chemists to prepare new molecules, which can be used to probe fundamental natural processes, such as ageing and cognition, and to provide treatments for health-impairment. The impact of Synthesis upon other areas of science is widespread and a closely-related scientific discipline which derives immense direct benefit from Synthesis is Chemical Biology (defined as "a scientific discipline spanning the fields of chemistry and biology that involves the application of chemical techniques and tools, often compounds produced through synthetic chemistry") a high-impact research area identified around the world as being of crucial significance for the major scientific challenges which face 21st-century societies.
The Synthesis and Chemical Biology Team is particularly focused on the design of methodology to prepare synthetic biomolecules, tailored synthetic substances which have modified (usually enhanced) bioproperties. Our team aims to design and create new chemical substances with applications in biological environments. Among the research targets we are focused on are: biological exploitation of synthetic amino acids, novel methods for peptide ligation, protein conjugation using metal catalysis and synthetic nucleic acids and we have a broad range of funding from industry and government agencies, providing support a diverse collection of cross-disciplinary researchers. We invite you to explore our research interests using the links below and we welcome inquiries from all interested parties.
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