Overview
The Vilar Group is a very multidisciplinary team of students and postdoctoral associates interested in developing new molecular tools to study biological systems. To this aim, we are active in several broad research areas including synthetic (organic and inorganic) chemistry, spectroscopic and biophysical characterisation, chemical biology and molecular recognition. Some of the areas of particular interest in the group are:
- Chemical biology of nucleic acids with particular interest in G-quadruplex DNA
- Development of optical probes to study cellular processes (e.g. probes selective to image nucleic acids, metal ions, cellular organelles).
- Synthesis of metal-containing drugs and study of their interactions with DNA (as potential anticancer and antibacterial drugs) and proteins (as inhibitors of enzymes or to prevent pathological aggregation of peptides).
- Understanding the cellular/biological functions of metal ions (e.g. copper and zinc).
- Development of receptors for selective recognition of anions (phosphate, chloride, arsenate) and cations (mercury, lead) for the development of chemical sensors and materials to remove pollutants from contaminated water
For more details of research in the Vilar Group, please visit our website