LONDON: At the University of Illinois, a team of scientists have built a new machine which can build very complex but also very small molecules with just the click of a mouse.
This machine is actually, to put it simply, a molecular level 3-D printer. But that is not to say the machine is simple; rather it is anything but. Still, it does something quite remarkable.
“We wanted to take a very complex process, chemical synthesis, and make it simple,” explains University of Illinois professor of chemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists, Martin Burke in a recent press release. He adds, “Simplicity enables automation, which, in turn, can broadly enable discovery and bring the substantial power of making molecules to nonspecialists.”
More importantly, Burke is also a co-founder of Revolution Medicines. His company recently obtained licensing for automated synthesis technology. Thus he says that the company will begin to focus on anti-fungal treatments. But who knows, maybe that will evolve into other areas of treatment focus in the future.
