• Question: what kind of "bugs" do you treat

    Asked by to Daren on 20 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Daren Fearon

      Daren Fearon answered on 20 Jun 2014:

      I am working on developing drugs to kill bacteria including yersinia pestis (which causes the plague) and bacillus anthracis (which causes anthrax) amongst others. These are pretty deadly diseases and resistance to the existing drugs we have is growing meaning we need to find new drugs fast. The way I am trying to develop new drugs is by targeting proteins that are unique to bacteria, so in theory any drugs we find for yersinia pestis or bacillus anthracis could be used to treat superbugs like MRSA.

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