Melnikov Lab

The research in our lab covers a broad range of topics unified by a single theme – the problem of protein synthesis. We are using evolution as a discovery tool to understand why the protein synthesis machinery is so astonishingly diverse across the three domains of life, and how it adapts to environmental challenges, including cellular dormancy or drug exposure. Through laboratory evolution experiments, biochemistry, biophysics and structural biology we study how the protein synthesis machinery evolves, on a timescale ranging from several days – as during antibiotic resistance evolution – to several billion years – as during the early evolution of life on our planet. In doing so, our research helps uncover fundamental principles of molecular evolution leading to various adaptations, including antimicrobial resistance.