The University of Durham, UK, has launched an integrated biological chemistry centre to develop interdisciplinary research in biological chemistry and bioengineering. 

The £4.4 million, 1400m²  centre contains a suite of bespoke science labs, with a category two sterile handling and cell culture facility, temperature-controlled rooms, dedicated chromatography and microscopy/spectroscopy suites and large laboratories for synthetic chemistry. 

Projects already in progress include bio-imaging, redox biochemistry, biocatalysis and protein engineering. Chemistry professor David Parker said: 'The structure, stability and function of bioactive systems can only be understood once there is an appreciation at the molecular level of the chemical and biochemical processes involved. Such work is primarily the responsibility of the chemist working in harmony with life, clinical, engineering and materials scientists.' 

The Centre for Bioactive Chemistry will house four chemistry research groups and teams from the university's biology and engineering departments.   

'One of the core aims ... is to meet the need to provide graduates and postgraduates with the skills needed to be comfortable working in a modern interdisciplinary environment,' says the centre's organisers.   

Fiona Salvage