University Of Huddersfield Expands Laboratory With £1m Investment

The University of Huddersfield has announced that it has made a £1 million investment which will help make its lab more capable of improving drug research. The investment will be beneficial for the lab to make improvements in  field of x-ray crystallography, which allows researchers to examine of the make-up of certain molecules. Being able to visually inspect molecules on a graphic level allows for more effective and efficient drug production, which is a goal of pharmaceutical companies.

The £1 million investment will go towards equipping the university’s lab with the necessary equipment to carry out X-ray crystallography. The lab recently acquired six diffractometers, which were provided by Bruker — a manufacturing company which has entered into a partnership with the school.

 X-ray crystallography is also an important field for pharmacists, who regularly use the services of x-ray crystallography facilities. Professor Craig Rice, who runs the lab at Huddersfield, said that the facility’s technology would allow researchers to also study how certain drugs interact with the human body.

He also commented on how the technology could be of use to pharmaceutical companies. “And if you know how a drug works then you can develop that drug further. You can hone it and make improvements without being in the dark. X-ray crystallography means you really know what is going on. The diversity of our equipment means that this facility is one of the best in Europe. External visitors who have come to use it have been wowed, because the lab is utterly cutting-edge.”

The facilities at the Huddersfield lab include powder diffractometers, which can make it easier to produce certain crystals of enzymes or proteins. Designing certain enzymes or proteins remains one of the most difficult things to do in the production of pharmaceutical drugs.