URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Fall_2017_Melissa-McCarthy

The architecture of the molecules could help Bertin move his research into the realm of genetic engineering, enabling scientists to stitch together uniquely structured genes to build entirely new compounds with inherent flexibility that could be used as a therapy for a variety of diseases.

Funding for his research has come primarily from URI and the Rhode Island IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence, though he recently was awarded a grant from the American Society of Pharmacognosy to fund his next trip to collect samples in the field. Bertin plans to collect cyanobacteria samples from the Gulf of Mexico every year to create a database of compounds found in the blooms, while also collecting bloom material from the Red Sea, Australia, and other areas where cyanobacteria bloom regularly. “The ultimate goal is to build a library of pure compounds and then try to get them into as many biological assays as possible to see where they might be therapeutically relevant.”

- Matthew Bertin

Freeze dried sample of the acyanobacterium Trichodesmium thiebautii .

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