Investigators

Summary

1) The discovery of new small organic molecules that inhibit or activate specific biological pathways is a major research topic in the lab. Our discovered microRNA inhibitors have therapeutic implications in cancer and viral infections. 2) We are genetically re-wiring the circuitry of bacterial and mammalian cells in order to give new functions to proteins and organisms. Our approach is based on the expansion of the genetic code with synthetic, unnatural amino acids. 3) Light is a unique control element that enables the regulation of biological processes with high spatial and temporal resolution. We are engineering light-responsive nucleic acids and proteins, and are applying them in cellular optobiological studies.