Renos Savva

Birkbeck, University of London

Renos Savva is a Senior Lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London. His research interests are in the interactions of viruses with their cellular host environments, particularly those of viral proteins with nucleic acids, and with host-encoded proteins. Dr. Savva’s research concerns the nature of viral survival mechanisms, such as viral replicative switches, evasion of host restriction factors, and the adaptation and sequence plasticity of virus-encoded proteins. Dr. Savva’s published research includes insights from the structural biology of phage-encoded inhibitors of the ubiquitous family-1 uracil-DNA glycosylase, Ung. His research also extends to questions of protein sequence plasticity, which crosses over into synthetic biology collaborations: On the one hand, how adaptable are essential phage proteins, and on the other, how interchangeable are structural components of phage from closely related genomic families.

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Latest work with IntechOpen by Renos Savva

Bacteriophages are viruses that utilise bacterial cells as factories for their own propagation and as safe havens for their genomic material. They are capable of equipping bacteria with properties that bestow environmental advantages. They are also capable of specifically and efficiently killing bacteria.Bacteriophages are resilient in a wide diversity of environments, presumed to be as ancient as life itself, and are estimated to be the most numerous biological entities on the planet. Their overarching capacity to survive via molecular adaptation is supported by an arsenal of encoded enzymatic tools, which also enabled biotechnology. This volume includes contributions that describe bacteriophages as nanomachines, genetic engineers, and also as medicines and technologies of the future, including relevant production and process issues.

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