The growing spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens poses serious threats to human health. Developing powerful methods to eradicate bacteria resistant or tolerant to antibiotics is a challenge. We explore the effect of antibiotics in live bacteria using genetic, biochemical, structural and spectroscopic techniques. We use these drugs as templates to develop novel therapeutic agents with superior activity against pathogens from the ESKAPE group.
RNA is essential for all known forms of life. In many clinically important viruses, RNA carries the viral genetic information and is a key player of the viral infection cycle. SARS-CoV-2 has a large RNA genome of about 30 kilobases which is an excellent target for inactivation. Variants of the virus pose a threat on the vaccine-based prevention of the disease. There is a need to develop tools to efficiently inhibit replication of SARS-CoV-2 in infected cells with a strategy that would be resistant to the apparition of variants. We therefore seek novel approaches for SARS-CoV-2 RNA inactivation using biochemical, chemical and biological techniques.