Chemists at the University of Notre Dame (ND) and Wayne State University have revealed the complete structure of the molecule that makes up the bacterial cell wall and protects it like a fortress. It\'s been known for a half-century that the molecule, called peptidoglycan, serves as the basic building block for bacterial walls. A new paper by the researchers, published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals its three-dimensional structure for the first time. Ultimately, it is hoped that researchers will be able to exploit the discovery to invent new kinds of antibiotics.