This scholarship is funded by Swansea University's College of Science.
Start date: October 2021
Supervisors:
Project description:
DNA containing non-Watson crick “mismatch” base pairs (mismatch DNA or mismatches) has experienced a resurgence of interest. While normal cells repair mismatches by mismatch mediated repair (MMR), cells deficient in MMR have a high level of unrepaired replication errors, including mismatches. New molecules with high affinities for mismatch DNA would be advantageous for the biophysical and biochemical study of these DNA lesions and provide molecular tools or therapeutic leads for MMR-deficient cancers. In this project, you will synthesise compounds based on metal polypyridyl chemistry (ruthenium, iridium, platinum metal centres) to examine the biochemistry and cell biology of mismatch DNA and establish whether mismatches are a viable target in medicinal chemistry. This project is highly interdisciplinary and will involve methodologies and techniques from synthetic organometallic and coordination chemistry, DNA biochemistry, and cancer cell biology; a unique combination of skills with opportunities to specialise in these areas. Recent publications from the group include Gill et al., Chem Sci 2020, 11 (33), 8936-8944, Yusoh et al., ACS Chem Biol 2020 15, 378-387 and Yusoh et al. ChemMedChem 2020 15 (22), 2121-2135. For more information, please visit our Gill Gorup website.
Eligibility
Candidates must have a First, Upper Second Class Honours or a Master’s degree with Merit, in a relevant discipline (Chemistry, Biochemistry, Cell/Molecular Biology or related).
For candidates whose first language is not English, we require IELTS 6.5 (with 6.0 in each component) or equivalent. Please visit our website for a list of acceptable English language tests. We prefer candidates to have already met the English Language requirements at the point of application, although this is not a requirement.
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