A team of researchers at the University of Warwick and Monash University has solved a puzzle that has stumped drug developers for decades: how bacteria naturally create multiple versions of powerful cancer therapies. The breakthrough could accelerate the development of new treatments for hard-to-treat cancers.

Harnessing bacterial enzymes to create drug variants, a strategy known as combinatorial biosynthesis, has long been a goal for scientists. But without understanding how these enzymes interact, progress has stalled.

Published in Nature Communications, the researchers have finally revealed how bacterial enzymes communicate and work together to assemble a family of related anticancer compounds. This family includes romidepsin (Istodax), a clinically approved blood cancer treatment. By understanding this “mix-and-match” process and replicating the principle in the lab, the researchers have established an approach to designing new therapies.