Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
I'm a molecular biologist with extensive experience in bacterial genetics and DNA engineering. In my current role, I'm involved in metabolic engineering projects that are aimed to allow bacterial fermentation to replace chemical synthesis. I've also helped develop a patented antibiotic-free plasmid maintenance system, allowing for greener and more ethical biomanufacturing. In addition, I use my experience in DNA engineering to make large, complex targeting constructs to create highly sophisticated humanized mouse models for medical research. I'm convinced biotechnology will develop solutions to improve our environmental impact and build a more sustainable future. I'm excited by the progress and potential of biotechnology in medicine. I'm happy to be able to contribute to such exciting work.
Project management in E. coli strain engineering and in the generation of large targeting constructs (BACs, low-copy plasmids) for transgenics
Research areas: protein engineering, light-switchable proteins, optogenetics, synthetic biology • Development of a light-responsive protein inhibitor targeting the transcription factor AP-1 (c-Jun) using directed evolution in E. coli • Genomic engineering in E. coli for strain optimizations using CRISPR/Cas9 and LambdaRed recombination • Preparation of funding applications, reports and publications • Supervision and guidance of practical students
Research areas: metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, protein engineering • Metabolic engineering in S. cerevisiae using light-responsive gene regulation to optimize production of farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP), a precursor of >50,000 compounds • Establishment and optimization of an enzymatic pathway in S. cerevisiae for biosynthesis of p-coumaroyl-CoA • Development of a synthetic, light-responsive transcription factor based on the protein photoreceptor PYP (photoactive yellow protein) • Preparation of reports and funding applications
Research areas: protein engineering (protein switches), genetic circuits, optogenetics • Developed and optimized high-throughput screening and selection genetic circuits in E. coli for engineering protein switches via directed evolution • Performed biophysical characterization of an engineered photo-controlled DNA-binding protein • Engineered and optimized a metabolic pathway for the biosynthesis of p-coumaroyl-CoA, the chromphore for photoactive yellow protein (PYP) • Characterized chromophore uptake in PYP • Designed protein chimeras and created libraries for the directed evolution of photo-controlled proteins • Wrote research proposals, scholarship applications and scientific papers • Presented research at scientific conferences
Course demonstrator for "Biomolecular Chemistry" (upper year undergraduate laboratory course) Course content: protein structural modelling (PyMOL), scientific writing, site directed mutagenesis, protein expression in E. coli and protein purification
Development of a Eukaryotic photo-controlled transcription factor using an in vivo assay based on export of interacting protein pairs
Development of a fluorescence-based reporter assay for directed evolution of a light-switchable protein