Alexander Mankin

Alexander Mankin

Alexander “Shura” Mankin studies the mechanisms of protein synthesis and drug resistance to develop new, superior antibiotics.

Mankin’s research focuses on the functions of the ribosome and how it can be inhibited by drugs. His laboratory has established modes of action of several important classes of antibiotics. His team has also engineered ribosomes for synthetic biology that do not exist in nature.

Mankin and his colleagues are working to discover how antibiotics bind to the ribosome, which churns out all the proteins a cell needs for survival, and how they interfere with its function.

Watch Mankin’s 3-minute talk on antimicrobial peptides derived from honeybees and fruit flies, delivered at SparkTalks, UIC’s take on faculty lightning talks.