Natural Product Research w Focus on Insect Biotechnology

Nature is a real treasure trove for bioactive molecules. Compounds harboring pharmacological activities have been invented in all kingdoms of live ever since. Hence, the chance to detect a natural product, which might become the lead structure to cure patients and/or solve pressing needs in any sector in the future, is out there. We aim to identify new natural products and to investigate in detail the biochemical reactions underlying the biosynthesis of these molecules.

The knowledge gained in basic research about biosynthesis builds the basis for the application in synthetic biology. This will enable us to design new molecules with desired features and to create sustainable sources of rare bioactive compounds.

In our group, one focus of the search for new natural products is on bacterial specialized metabolites showing antibiotic activity. New antibiotics are urgently needed, due to the fact that improper antibiotic use led to rapid resistance development. We aim to approach under-investigated habitats in the search for new drug leads. To achieve this goal a combination of micro and molecular biology, natural product chemistry, and bioinformatics is applied.

The natural product group has two branches that work hand in hand – the University and the Fraunhofer people. Together we are running a discovery pipeline and are happy and motivated to offer our expertise for challenging new research projects.

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