Proteins can be thought of as molecular machines that carry out a wide variety of functions in the body. Many of these machines speed up chemical reactions, for example breaking down the food we eat or building the important biological molecules that we need. Proteins that perform, or catalyze, these chemical reactions are known as enzymes. Our lab is using multiple biochemical techniques to study a number of different enzymes that play important biological roles. In particular, we are using X-ray crystallography to determine the molecular structure of these enzymes. Additionally, we are using protein engineering to manipulate the protein molecules and explore the impact of these changes on the chemical reactions they perform. These studies allow us to understand the fascinating biochemistry of a living cell. The studies in our lab focus on important bacterial proteins. Bacteria use novel chemistry to produce many molecules that impact the interactions of bacteria with other bacteria and with other organisms. Some bacteria produce antibiotics and other pharmaceutically active compounds. Other bacteria produce virulence factors that enable them to establish an infection. Blocking the production of a virulence factor may lead to the development of a new antibiotic.