At the protein engineering group we develop new proteins for applications in therapy and diagnosis, while critically testing our understanding of protein function.

Beyond the already impressive functional diversity of natural proteins

Our group operates at the interface of chemical biology and synthetic biology. Combining protein engineering and DNA nanotechnology, we develop intelligent biomolecular sensors and switches for applications in intracellular imaging, optogenetics, point-of-care diagnostics and antibody-based therapies. An important research theme is to develop generic engineering concepts for the development of protein-based switches, which include fluorescent sensors for intracellular imaging of metal ions, photo-switchable proteins, and protein-based sensors for antibody detection and actuation. We have an active policy of sharing our protein building blocks by depositing our plasmids to AddGene and promote their use by writing dedicated protocols and tutorial reviews. In education, our main goal is to train bachelor, masters and PhD students to become creative biomolecular engineers and independent critical scientists.