Taking the sting out of AMPs

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers led by Timothy Lu have developed a rational-design method for engineering antimicrobial peptides from toxic molecules such as wasp venom, publishing their third approach to developing AMPs this year and helping revive a space that had been left for dead.

Academic interest in developing antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as therapeutic candidates has increased in recent years as new technologies have been employed to overcome known hurdles in the field (see “Digesting Antimicrobial Peptides”)...