New class of antibiotics produced using Robots

University of Manchester have produced a new class of antibiotics through the use of robots.
The antibiotics (class II polyketides) are naturally produced by soil bacteria which has antimicrobial properties that are vital to combat infectious disease and cancer, but it grows in dense clumps that’s not compatible with robotic systems. Engineers at the University of Manchester have made this accessible for exploration by transferring the solid bacteria into E.coli. By combining this with enzymes from plants and fungi, new chemical compounds have been able to be produced that have never before been seen in nature.
Eriko Takano commented “Nature contains powerful chemical compounds to treat a wide range of diseases, with the most interesting chemicals coming from organisms that are difficult to work with in the lab. By successfully transferring these compounds into formats into E.coli, we can trail and test thousands of potential new polyketides in our robotic systems and quickly discover new solutions for the treatment of important diseases.”