Mark L. Nelson

Mark Nelson is an American chemist specializing in the field of antibiotics and tetracyclines. His synthesis techniques have resulted in over 40 patents and he conceived and synthesized with Prof Kwasi Adomako Ohemeng, Mohamed Ismail and Laura Honeyman the tetracycline antibiotic omadacycline (Nuzyra), the first of the aminomethylcycline subclass of tetracyclines to reach medical use.[1] It is useful against resistant bacteria and used for severe infections.[2]

He is first author of Mass spectroscopic characterization of tetracycline in the skeletal remains of an ancient population from Sudanese Nubia 350–550 CE,[3][4] published in 2010, which reported that ancient civilizations were producing antibiotics and used them to treat diseases. His work used anhydrous hydrogen fluoride to dissolve mummy bones found in Nubia followed by mass spectroscopic characterization.[5][6][7]

He also is known for his scientific research into the non-antibiotic uses of the tetracyclines and for his work on the history of the compounds.[8]

More recently he was awarded the 2019 American Chemistry Society Heroes of Chemistry award for his synthetic work leading to Nuzyra and Seysara, which were approved by the FDA in October 2018 for use as antibiotics in health and medicine.

References
  1. "Structure-Activity Relationship of the Aminomethylcyclines and the Discovery of Omadacycline". Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  2. Parry, Wynne. "Ancient African Cocktail: Beer and a Shot of Antibiotic". Live Science. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  3. Willingham, Emily. "Ancient Nubians might have brewed beer for antibiotics". Earth & Sky. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  4. "Antibiotics 1700 Years Ago - In Beer!". Science 2.0. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  5. "Ancient brew masters tapped antibiotic secrets". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  6. "Ancient Nubians Made Antibiotic Beer". WIRED. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  7. Clark, Carol. "Ancient brewmasters tapped drug secrets". Emory University. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  8. Nelson, Mark; Levy, Stuart (1 December 2011). "The history of the tetracyclines". Retrieved 13 December 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.