Genome-led discovery of new natural products

Widespread genome sequencing has revealed the immense unexplored potential of bacteria to produce RiPP natural products.

The Truman lab are developing computational and genetic tools to identify and elucidate the pathways to this biosynthetic “dark matter”.

They then use chemical and biological methods to determine the structures and functions of these molecules.

This approach was recently used to identify a new RiPP called thioalbamide that possesses highly promising anti-cancer activity.