Researchers at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research and its Saarland institute found a new family of natural compounds made by bacteria. These come from genes that were silent, meaning the bacteria never produced them on their own. The team figured out how the compounds are built and made them synthetically in the lab.
Many of today's medicines, including some cancer drugs, originally came from microorganisms. But most bacterial genes stay switched off, hiding countless compounds we have never tested. By waking up those silent genes and copying the results synthetically, researchers can screen a much larger pool of candidates, which could speed the search for new cancer treatments.
✦ Bacteria carry hidden chemical libraries. Learning to read them opens new paths to medicine.