March 2019 digital v1

events
ICACSB-2019 calls for innovation
in biopharmaceuticals
The three-day meet re-emphasizes the need for developing
new drugs and antibiotics
FM BUREAU, CHENNAI
Bacterial resistance to existing
antibiotics is a severe problem
in the field of medicine at
present. Structural studies on
ribosomes from multi-resistant
bacteria and comparisons to previous
ribosome structures revealed novel
structural motifs, essential for protein
biosynthesis. These are not located
in the primary ribosomal active sites,
hence there is no effective mechanism
for their modification, which leads to
resistance to antibiotics. These findings
prompted the design of antibiotics
with desired structures that can be
optimized in terms of their chemical
properties, toxicity, cellular penetration
IN ORDER TO OVERCOME THE
PROBLEM OF BACTERIAL
RESISTANCE, ANTIBIOTICS
NEED TO BE MODIFIED AND
NEW DRUG DISCOVERY
PURSUED
and species-specificity, said Israeli
Nobel Laureate Prof. Ada E Yonath,
reiterating her views on the urgent
need for quick and specific efforts on
the development of new antibiotics.
She was delivering her keynote
address at the 5th International
Conference of Advanced Chemical and
Structural Biology organised by PRIST
Deemed University.
Echoing similar views, Prof TP
Singh, Department of Biophysics, All
India Institute of Medical Science, New
Delhi, said that in order to overcome
the problem of bacterial resistance,
antibiotics need to be modified and
new drug discovery pursued.
Delivering his keynote lecture on
the topic — Protein Antibiotics as New
Generation Weapons Against Invading
Microbes — Singh added: “Here we
propose an entirely new concept of
introducing innate immune proteins
from different species. It has been
well known that the proteins of the
innate immune system provide the
first line of defence against infecting
microbes. These proteins recognize the
conserved motifs that are present on
92 / FUTURE MEDICINE / March 2019