Preliminary research performed at Biosearch has confirmed that modified inorganic materials may have superior physical and chemical properties for attachment and assembly of peptide chains during solid-phase peptide synthesis. These supports are believed to provide a more favorable environment for the chemical reactions involved, and their rigidity is expected to minimize peptide aggregation problems encountered in the synthesis of complex peptides with conventional polymeric supports. Many areas of biotechnology, as well as biochemical and pharmaceutical research will benefit from the anticipated efficiency of synthesis and purity of products resulting from this innovation. Progress in these areas is often limited by the careful purification and characterization required for the heterogenous products currently obtained. In phase 1 of the research a wide range of materials will be carefully screened and compared. It is proposed that the best candidate will be used in the synthesis of a variety of peptides. In phase 2, should a suitable choice emerge, a novel fully automatic synthesizer will be constructed to exploit these advantages.
