Research and Development at GenoMechanix We are using emerging molecular knowledge arising from the advances in genomics to design novel products. We actively pursue collaborative research programs with researchers at academic institutions. Our current projects are:  Molecules designed to overcome antibiotic resistance in bacteria - A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the resistance of bacteria (and other infectious organisms) to specific antibiotics is providing new strategies to design novel molecules that may overcome the resistance. The traditional means of trying alternative antibiotics can address this problem to an extent. Vancomycin is a potent antibiotic used as the last resort to kill “serious or severe infections caused by” bacteria that are resistant to the penicillin/methicillin family of antibiotics and to treat patients who are allergic to penicillin. However, there are bacteria with resistance to vancomycin and resulting infections, primarily in hospitals, are life threatening.  Using chemical synthesis to make molecules that resemble a modified dipeptide found in the resistant bacterial cell wall, we are creating antibody-like molecules that will be produced through genetic engineering and that will act like enzymes to specifically degrade the modified dipeptide to overcome resistance to vancomycin. Initial research on this project is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Jon Stewart in the Chemistry Department at the University of Florida.  Synthetic Fluorescent DNA Probes for Protein Variants - High throughput methods for ultrasensitive quantitation of protein molecules and their variants (arising from mutation or genetic polymorphism) in biological specimens are important in cell biology research and drug discovery. Inappropriate folding of specific protein molecules is now being implicated in a number of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes and many autoimmune diseases. Using synthetic DNA molecules selected for high affinity binding to specific proteins, that are not naturally known as DNA-binding proteins, we are creating novel probes for high throughput assays based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET).  Our initial discovery program has led to a fluorescence quenching assay that not only is sensitive in the nanomolar concentration range for the target protein in the presence of contaminating proteins present in biological specimens but also can distinguish between molecular variants of the target protein. Initial research on this program is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Weihong Tan in the Chemistry Department at the University of Florida. Backbone-modified Antisense DNA Panel  GenoMechanix now offers a panel of synthetic DNAs with phosphorothioate backbone modification for stability against common nucleases as research tools for gene function tests. Each DNA preparation has been purified through gel electrophoresis and/or high performance liquid chromatography and stored in a dry from in 10 nanomole (approximately 50 – 60 μg) aliquots. This initial panel consists of a number of genes implicated in cell cycle and tumorigenic transformation of cells. We will add other sequences as emerging information suggest their potential use. Name Gene/Genbank Accession # CAT. # Length Amount Price Control/scrambled   eM-A001 22-mer 10 nmol  $35.00 c-myc XM-122917 eM-A002 15-mer  10 nmol $45.00 c-myb XM-004256.3 eM-A003 18-mer 10 nmol $45.00 cdc-2  AF512554.1 eM-A004 18-mer 10 nmol $45.00 EGF-R AF142153 eM-A005 16-mer 10 nmol $45.00 PDGF-Rβ-1 AK056467.1 eM-A006 18-mer 10 nmol $45.00 PDGF-Rβ-2 NM008809.1 eM-A007 18-mer 10 nmol $45.00 EPO-R NM000121.2  eM-A008 18-mer 10 nmol $55.00 EPO AF202306.1 eM-A009 18-mer 10 nmol $55.00 SOD XM123001.1 eM-A010 22-mer 10 nmol $55.00 As always, we custom synthesize DNAs with phosphorothioate backbone modification at various scales of synthesis and offer purification choices for the use of these molecules for your functional genomics research. Please contact us for a custom quote.