Pablo Rivera-Fuentes lab, draws from the fields of organic synthesis, molecular biology, protein engineering, single-molecule imaging, and artificial intelligence to develop small-molecule and protein tools to study the subcellular compartementalization of biological processes. Current research lines in our lab include the characterization of the redox states of mammalian organelles, the creation of chemigenetic markers and sensors for in vivo imaging, and the development of single-molecule peptide and protein identification technologies.

The Boland lab aims to study the molecular mechanisms that underlie cell cycle regulation as well as signal transduction by membrane proteins in health and diseasework at the intersection of Structural Biology, Molecular & Cell Biology and Chemical Biology. Their research leverages the latest developments in cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM) and uses complementary biophysical techniques (proteomics, light-microscopy, microfluidics, etc.).

Pioneering in the development of novel (bio)chemical methods to map cellular protein-lipid interaction networks, the Gavin group has a strong research interest in the study of lipid metabolism and the regulation of cellular membranes homeostasis, with a special focus on the machinery involved in the creation and maintenance of lipid gradients in eukaryotic cells, and the study of mechanisms by which lipid signatures are sensed and “read” by effector proteins.

Lang’s general research interests strive to develop new tools to study and control biological systems. Her group is especially active in enabling and advancing approaches to expand the genetic code and in developing new in vivo chemistries that are amenable to physiological conditions. This combination is ideally suited to address unmet challenges in studying and manipulating biological processes with a new level of spatial, temporal and molecular precision.

Sophie Martin lab aims to understand in molecular detail how cells polarize, organize their cytoskeleton and their membrane to achieve growth, division and fusion. To this end, they use a combination of quantitative live-cell imaging, electron microscopy, genetic and biochemical approaches.

Research in the Milton Group seeks to couple metalloenzymes that catalyze important reductive reactions to electrodes, in order to study their electron transfer/catalytic mechanisms and ultimately aid the development of new biotechnologies (and bio-inspired technologies).

The Schuhmacher Lab is interested in answering outstanding questions in membrane biology. Their chemical biology approach opens the door to investigate the so far mostly invisible and thus secret work of lipids. In particular, they would like to understand the biological role of lipid diversity and their impact on signaling processes.

Angela Steinauer’s lab focuses on the engineering of non-viral, protein-based nanocarriers for targeted RNA delivery. Inspired by viral nucleic acid-protein assemblies, her group adopts a bottom-up approach and utilizes protein design, biomolecular engineering, and directed evolution to construct carriers with tailored functionalities.

The Thomä lab focuses on the structure and function of macromolecular machines at the interface of chromatin biology and ubiquitin biology. Recent work from the laboratory illustrated how transcription factor operate in the context of chromatin, and how endogenous and synthetic small molecules drive the degradation of transcription factors and other cellular proteins by leveraging the ubiquitin proteasome system.

The Academic Chemical Screening platform of Switzerland (ACCESS), led by Gerardo Turcatti, provides the scientific community with chemical diversity, screening facilities, medicinal chemistry and know-how in chemical genetics.

The Winssinger lab makes use of small molecules and chemistry techniques to probe biological mechanisms. To accelerate probe discovery, the lab has pioneered DNA-encoded library technologies and has extended this technique to fold peptides in constricted conformations and are applying this approach to mimic affinity proteins.  Their research has also pioneered proximity-enabled chemistries and used it to image oligonucleotides in cellulo or in vivo, turn-on drugs in response to biomarkers and more generally develop methodology for logic-gated responses.  As part of this program, the Winssinger lab is developing photocatalytic reactions in chemical biology and using bioluminescence as a light source for photochemistry.