title: Mutasynthesis - uniting chemistry and genetics for drug discovery.
abstract: Mutasynthesis couples the power of chemical synthesis with molecular biology to generate derivatives of medicinally valuable, natural products. Recently, this technique has been exploited by Cambridge-based biotech company Biotica Technology Ltd, and their collaborators, to generate promising new variants of the polyketide anti-cancer compounds rapamycin and borrelidin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK. kjw21@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Kira J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Weissman
mesh_terms: D002621:Chemistry / Q000639:trends*; D015195:Drug Design; D005233:Fatty Alcohols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000639:trends*; D009154:Mutation; D020123:Sirolimus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013678:Technology, Pharmaceutical / Q000639:trends*
chemical_list: D005233:Fatty Alcohols; C005066:borrelidin; D020123:Sirolimus