Inventor of the Week Archive
for a different Invention or Inventor
Synthetic B-Chain Magainin Derivative
Biotechnologist Emilie Porter was fortunate enough to get
involved in research very early on in her education. This
was the factor, she says, that helped her accomplish an important
discovery in her field while still a graduate student at the
University of Wisconsin.
Born in 1976, Porter attended Millikin University in Decatur,
Illinois, completing her undergraduate degree in chemistry
with honors in 1998. As an undergraduate she was first exposed
to research processes and became interested in a career in
the area of pharmaceutical discovery. In the fall of 1998,
she entered the University of Wisconsin at Madison in pursuit
of a doctoral degree in organic chemistry.
Working with a research team there, lead by Professor Samuel
Gellman, Porter discovered a synthetic peptide that has the
potential to fight bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics.
The fundamental discovery could lead to the creation of a
new class of antimicrobial agents.
Porter and her colleagues published their findings on the
peptides, called “magainins” in the journal “Nature”
in 2000. These molecules, first discovered on the skin of
toads, are a naturally occurring class of medium-sized peptides
that organisms employ as a defense against microbial infection.
The molecules are said to degrade quickly in living tissue,
and though they effectively fight bacteria in toads, they
can be toxic to human cells.
In pursuit of a similar substance that would work more effectively
in humans, Porter and her team developed a synthetic “b-chain
magainin derivative” that imitates the natural molecule
and also has its same antimicrobial effects. The synthetic
version proved to be less toxic to human cells as well. And
what’s more, it also appeared to be effective against
some bacteria that had developed a resistance to antibiotics.
In 2000, Porter was honored with the $20,000 National Inventors
Hall of Fame Collegiate Inventors Prize for her discovery,
titled “Synthetic Antibiotic Peptide That Is a Beta-Amino
Acid Oligomer.” She has applied on a patent for the
molecule, which could serve as the basis for groundbreaking,
disease-fighting drugs in the future, especially chemotherapy.
Meanwhile, Porter became a National Institute of Health
Predoctoral Fellow in the University of Wisconsin’s
Biotechnology Training Program in 2000. She has co-authored
five publications and has received a number of academic awards
and scholarships in support of her research.