Drug Discovery Unit, University of Dundee

‘Kissing bug’ disease should be treated as endemic in US, scientists say People in at least eight states have been infected with Chagas, new report says, amid low awareness of disease

#Chagas disease remains very neglected, and not only in the US, in spite of an estimated 8 million people being infected with T. cruzi. We, and our collaborators, aim to develop new medicines, but this is becoming increasingly challenging due to lack of funding.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

A reluctance?

Good morning Bluesky!
We have reached the end of our UNLEASH meeting and are all preparing to head home.
We are full of enthusiasm and renewed purpose, and we look forward to keeping you all updated on our work!

Tell us - what do you want to know about us?

#SciComm #RNA #Splicing

Good morning Sky-Friends!
Our own @biochemtrix.bsky.social (and occasional poster!) is in Germany at the #Unleash consortium meeting. They are joining us here in the sky @unleash-as.bsky.social so follow along to find out about #AlternativeSplicing!

Great opportunity to join our multi-partner collaboration to develop much needed new #antifungal drugs!

#jobs, #drugdiscovery, #Cryptococcus, #Candida

@mrccmm.bsky.social @ddu-dundee.bsky.social @labwyllie.bsky.social @glaxosmithkline.bsky.social

£17.9m research grant to discover new treatments for fungal diseases A team of leading infectious disease scientists from academia and industry have been awarded £17.9 million to identify new drugs to treat fungal infections

Delighted to announce a £17.9 million award from @wellcometrust.bsky.social for the development of new antifungal treatments to a consortium of @ddu-dundee.bsky.social, @labwyllie.bsky.social, @mrccmm.bsky.social and GSK.

#Cryptococcus #Candida #drugdiscovery #antifungal 🧪

tinyurl.com/wywtkpsx

Structure–activity relationships of 1,5-dihydro-2H-benzo[b][1,4]diazepine-2,4(3H)-diones as inhibitors of Trypanosoma cruzi Chagas disease, caused by infection with the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), is responsible for a large health burden with around 6–8 million people infected globally. The current dru...

Great to have a latest #Chagas disease drug discovery paper published in @rsc.org MedChem: pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

This work highlights how we decide to progress or terminate series, and hopefully provides some useful approaches and lessons.

@ddu-dundee.bsky.social 🧪 #NTD #drugdiscovery

Wither: The Many Triumphs and Long Fall of Nuclear Physicist Harriet Brooks. Reading the life of Harriet Brooks is like watching the gradual, inevitable unfolding of a horror movie. There's that same idyllic, promising beginning that suddenly gives way as the heroine puts her...

Nuclear physics pioneer Harriet Brooks was born OTD 149 years ago. The discoverer of Nuclear Recoil, the transmutation of elements through radioactivity, and nuclear series, her productive career was brought short by marriage. Here is her story

tinyurl.com/mvcd3ape

#WomenInSTEM #Physics #HistSci 🧪

Principal Scientist - Computational Chemistry (m/f/d)

Opportunity for computational chemist at Syngenta (Stein Switzerland) #CompChem #cheminformatics #ML #AI #agrochem #ChemJobs #chemsky 🧪
jobs.syngenta.com/job/principa...

Another mystery #WhereisitWednesday picture for you all. Taken probably in the 1920s, this seems to be a road in Broughty Ferry, or possibly towards Monifieth. But aren't sure where it is. Do you have any ideas?

Hormone helps mice live longer and avoid obesity Male mice that make high levels of fibroblast growth factor 21 stay lean as they age — a finding that could translate to humans.

A genetic modification that causes mice to overexpress a particular hormone prevents them from gaining weight and allows them to live longer

https://go.nature.com/4l3rWk2

Happy birthday Jaws! How the movie changed shark science Half a century after its cinematic release, Jaws is still shaping how we view — and protect — the ocean’s top predators.

We're gonna need a bigger boat 🦈

https://go.nature.com/463XAch

Jaws helped spur a fishing frenzy – so how have the world’s sharks fared since the 1975 release? The film made us afraid to go back in the water. It ultimately gave sharks more to fear from us.

50 years on from the release of movie blockbuster Jaws, our shark expert @thesimslab.bsky.social @sotonoceanearth.bsky.social debates the so called 'Jaws effect', charting the fortunes of the 'great white' for @theconversation.com.

Read more 👉 https://tr.ee/5gCSPz

If you’re studying chemistry & anything about graduating is making you anxious – whether that’s finding a job, managing finances, or feeling generally overwhelmed – we’re here for you. ➡️8am – 8pm, Mon–Fri: call 0800 084 3451 (UK Freephone) or +44 1223 853549 (Intl): buff.ly/tCWlE7s #ChemSky #EduSky

🧪 We're beta testing - and we want your thoughts!
Try the redesigned PDBe entry pages & let us know:
🔸 What’s working?
🔸 What’s confusing?
🔸 What features do you miss?

💬 Feedback form: tinyurl.com/pdbe-beta-form

#PDBeBeta #Bioinformatics #Biochemistry #Science #UserVoice

Proposed biosynthetic pathway for assembly of desferrioxamines E and B. Main biosynthetic enzymes presented in bold face. DesG and DesH balance intracellular N-hydroxy-N-succinylcadaverine (HSC) and N-hydroxy-N-acetylcadaverine (HAC) concentrations by converting HSC to HAC. In the absence of DesG and/or DesH, the cells likely fail to produce sufficient levels of HAC, thereby strongly attenuating the production of DFOB. Although DesC has been shown to be able to catalyze the acetylation of N-hydroxycadaverine in vitro, the enzyme can only modestly compensate for the loss of DesH in vivo, underlining the important role played by DesG and DesH in DFOB production.

Despite a century of use in #DrugDiscovery, specialized metabolism continues to amaze. Justin Nodwell explores a @plosbiology.org study that uses a novel computational approach to uncover unsuspected functions of a compound produced by #Streptomyces 🧪 Paper: plos.io/43UVUPB Primer: plos.io/4n25bOF

Do you want to join us to work in neurodevelopmental biology? Please apply 👇 #SEBD

C&EN's Trailblazers

Nominate a chemist with disabilities for C&EN's Trailblazers 2025!

Please tell us about your chemistry heroes, mentors, mentees, and inspirations—or nominate yourself.
👉 cenm.ag/nominatetrai...

#chemsky 🧪 #phdsky #academicsky #STEM #phdchat #academicchatter

Voltage-gated sodium channels

For readers interested in ion channels as drug targets, this Review in the May issue focuses on voltage-gated sodium channels, such as Nav1.8, the target of the first new non-opioid analgesic to be approved in decades
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/enkq4

🧬 Passionate about primary cilia and cell signalling?
🧫 Curious about the actin role in growth and function?
🗣️ Skilled in communication and value flexibility in your work?
Join IMG now!
➡ www.img.cas.cz/2025/05/8654...

Cow friends! 😍

🚨🚨#Hiring!

3 year #postdoc position open in my lab @cabd-upo-csic.bsky.social to study the interplay between DNA damage responses and #preimplantation embryo development. Fully funded by EARLYFATE #ERCCoG

📆 Apply by 23rd May 2023

🔗Details below

@sebioldev.bsky.social

Please RT!🙏

Launching the first Medical Research Council (MRC) funded High Throughput… | Hannah Semple Launching the first Medical Research Council (MRC) funded High Throughput Screen (HTS) in AstraZeneca's Cambridge Discovery Centre! As part of AstraZeneca Open Innovation, we offer access to our ...

Morning sky friends!

Check out this LinkedIn post from our friends @astrazeneca.bsky.social's Cambridge Discovery Centre!
Dr Luma Godoy Magalhaes is spending some time away from us in sunny Dundee to start work on the first #MRC funded #HTS project.
#collaboration
www.linkedin.com/posts/hannah...

The cuts in US funding continue to impact countries.

Read how HIV services and communities in Angola, Lao PDR, Lesotho, and South Africa are being impacted, and how governments and partners are taking urgent action protect progress and ensure continuity of care. www.unaids.org/en/impact-US...

Peter Garland, biochemist who led the Institute of Cancer Research as it made vital new discoveries He played a key role in the development of Humira – for rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease – which become a top-selling medicine

The Telegraph recently shared an obituary of our former Chief Executive, Professor Peter Garland, who was both a highly successful academic and leader.

www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2...

Our latest editorial in defense of vaccines and vaccination, introduces two Perspectives in this issue on priorities for outbreak vaccination, as well as the important successes of vaccines to date

Please read and spread the word 🙏🏻!

Looking for a student or postdoc!

Want to combine evolutionary analysis + structural modeling with in vitro biochemistry & fluorescence microscopy?
Help us uncover new protein-protein interactions — from in silico to in vitro.

Join us at @istaresearch.bsky.social 👉 looselab.org
🧬💡🔬🎡

Navigating the Landscape of Academic Drug Discovery: An 18-Year Journey

Good morning sky pals!

Here's a good read for your morning coffee:
Navigating the Landscape of Academic #DrugDiscovery: An 18-Year Journey, written by our very own Dr Beatriz Baragana & Dr Laura Cleghorn for @acs.org

pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Wellcome Connecting Science Multiomics in Metabolic Disease hybrid conference Conference dates: 4-6 June 2025 Location: Hinxton Hall Conference Centre, Wellcome Genome Campus, UK and online Registration deadlines - In person: 6 May Virtual: 27 May

Join us in person for our #MetabolicMultiomics25 conference!

Explore the application of powerful #omics tools for studying #MetabolicDiseases & cancer.

Discover the potential for new clinical treatments at the intersection of research & translational medicine.

Register by 6 May
📎 bit.ly/3DF6vET

Access alone is not enough; people need high-quality care.

Fewer women are dying in childbirth as access to health care has increased.

Maternity service coverage has increased.

Access to health care saves lives. Pregnancy can be a dangerous time in a woman's life.

It's #WorldHealthDay
Since 2000, maternal deaths globally declined by 40%! 💙

BUT—progress is slowing, and aid funding cuts mean major threats to lifesaving maternity services in many parts of the world. ❌