Tag: Balskus

  • Nation & World

    Solving colibactin’s code

    In an effort to understand how colibactin, a compound produced by certain strains of E. coli, may be connected to the development of colorectal cancer, Harvard researchers are exploring how the compound damages DNA to produce DNA adducts.

    5 minutes
    Emily Balskus.
  • Nation & World

    Microbial manufacturing

    Emily Balskus and a team of researchers untangled how soil bacteria are able to manufacture streptozotocin, an antibiotic and anti-cancer compound.

    3 minutes
    Emily Balskus standing in her office
  • Nation & World

    Enzyme interference

    Researchers discovered that Eggerthella lenta — a bacterium found in the guts of more than 30 percent of the population — can metabolize the cardiac drug digoxin in high enough quantities to render it ineffective. Now, a team of researchers has identified the culprit gene that produces the digoxin-metabolizing enzyme.

    6 minutes