Speaker: Prof. Adriaan J. Minnaard, Stratingh Institute, University of Groningen

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: the next event organised by the Groningen Chemical Society (GCK), one of NPT’s sister sections within the KNCV.

Professor Minnaard is a leading scientist. Earlier this year, he was appointed a Fellow of Chemistry Europe in recognition of his work.

Tuberculosis has a long history, including in the Netherlands, and remains the bacterial infectious disease that claims the most lives worldwide each year. No effective vaccine is available and diagnosis is not always straightforward. Effective medicines are available, but antibiotic resistance is a major problem.

Thirty years ago, it was discovered that lipids in the cell wall of the tuberculosis bacterium play a key role in infection and the bacterium’s survival in humans. The bacterium produces thousands of these lipids, often with complex structures, and new ones are discovered every year. Elucidating the structures of these lipids and studying their function presents an enormous challenge, but one that may also yield great rewards: improved diagnostics and a vaccine. Organic chemistry plays an essential role here, as only chemistry is capable of synthesising these lipids and thereby making them available for immunological research and diagnostics. To this end, it is necessary to develop new synthetic methods in order to obtain these complex molecules in the first place. In this lecture, I will demonstrate how collaboration between organic chemistry, microbiology and cell biology enables us to understand how this bacterium infects humans.

REGISTRATION
Please register in advance with the GCK contact person, Dr Kommer Brunt, E kommer.brunt@planet.nl
Non-members of GCK are asked to pay a contribution of EUR 3.00 to cover the cost of the venue hire. Please pay this in cash and with the exact amount to Kommer Brunt prior to the lecture.

VENUE
Sociaal Cultureel Centrum ‘t Clockhuys, Brinkhorst 3, Haren, telephone 050 - 533 95 60 (there is also an entrance on Kerkstraat next to the old primary school and via the lift in the Voorhorst car park).
There is ample parking available in the Voorhorst car park (paid parking, accessible via Hortuslaan) at the Brinkhorst shopping centre and at Haderaplein (free parking after 18:00) behind Haren Town Hall.

Illustration of a TB bacterium with a membrane lipid molecule