4 Research groups joined newly founded Institute of Bioengineering

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The new institute of Bioengineering mission is to support researchers, who are driven by curiosity and passionate about their own scientific ideas. Institute aims to attract more talented scientists to Estonia, accumulate a critical mass of world class research and make Tartu a Biotech hub.

Prof. Mart Loog, Prof. Andres Merits, Prof. Hannes Kollist, Assoc. Prof. Kaspar Valgepea research groups have joined the newly formed Institute of Bioengineering.

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Mart Loog’s lab focuses on understanding the processing of kinase signals via multisite phosphorylation networks in disordered proteins that control the cell cycle. Inspired by the discovered natural phosphorylation systems, we engineer multisite phosphorylation-based synthetic circuits for creative solutions and applications in synthetic biology and biotechnology.

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Andres Merits lab research focuses has been RNA replication process/enzymes/complexes of positive-strand RNA viruses. As genome replication and gene expression represent the central event for the infection cycle of a virus it affects directly or indirectly all other aspects of biology of viruses.

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Hannes Kollist Lab aims to study mechanisms by which plants sense changes in the environment. As a tool for our research we use Arabidopsis mutants and mutant screens. Furthermore natural variation among Arabidopsis exotypes is used as a source of genetic information and the long standing aim is to transfer knowledge collected from the model species to crops and trees. The research carried out in the lab can be divided into three interconnected topics: Guard cell signaling, Stomatal regulation of crops, Biochemistry of organelles.

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GasFermTec group research focuses on advancing gas fermentation technologies through its integration with systems and synthetic biology. We aim to accelerate the understanding and engineering of acetogen metabolism by establishing a state-of-the-art gas fermentation facility and further advancing the cutting-edge systems biology platform recently established by Group Leader Dr. Kaspar Valgepea. This will guide rational metabolic engineering of superior cell factories through synthetic biology for sustainable production of fuels and chemicals from waste feedstocks (e.g. bioplastics from waste).