Researchers at the University of Warwick have developed a method to synthesize large libraries of Polymers to make their screening for antimicrobial activity faster and without the need to use sealed vials, the University announced in an Aug. 14, 2018 press release. The researchers are investigating innovative antimicrobials to address antimicrobial resistance.
The polymers were synthesized using a high-throughput technique with liquid-handling robots and photochemical polymerization. “Whilst many people have successfully mimicked antimicrobial peptides with polymers, the limiting step was the number of different combinations of building blocks you can use. We used simple robotics and a light controlled polymerization, which lets us do the chemistry open to air, without any sealed vials, which are essential for most polymer syntheses,” Professor Matthew Gibson from Warwick’s Department of Chemistry and Warwick Medical School and Lead Author of a paper published in Chemistry; A European Journal, said in the press release.
Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle, Pharmaceutical Microbiology
