J. A. Cowan

This researcher works in bioinorganic chemistry, studying how metal ions such as iron-sulfur clusters, magnesium, and copper interact with proteins, peptides, and RNA. Major topics include how cells transport and assemble metal cofactors (like iron-sulfur clusters and heme), how metal-binding peptides can act as antimicrobial agents, and origin-of-life questions about how metals may have influenced the chirality (handedness) of early biological molecules. The work combines structural biology, biochemistry, and some prebiotic chemistry approaches.

Publication output was relatively higher and variable between 2017 and 2022 (ranging from 6 to 15 papers per year) but has notably slowed to just 1-2 publications per year from 2023 to 2025.

Generated by claude-sonnet-5 from public bibliographic data · Jul 20, 2026