and Karolinska Institutet
In 2025, Simon Elsässer received an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship and W3 University Professorship in Synthetic Biology to establish his research group at University of Freiburg, Faculty of Biology. We have open positions, see advertisements coming up soon or write to us at freiburg@elsaesserlab.org. Join us in the modern Signalhaus building!
Our laboratory develops new synthetic and chemical biology methods to perform ‘biochemistry in the living cell’. The aim is to understand protein function in a mechanistic and quantitative manner, in the context of the living cell. To perform specific and quantitative biochemical assays in the living cell, two key challenges have to be addressed: first, how can we make accurate and quantitative measurements in the cellular environment? Second, how can we introduce specific perturbations controlled in space and time? To this end, we are developing tools to engineer proteins in living cells based on genetic code expansion and unnatural amino acid mutagenesis. We aim, for example, to control and probe chromatin proteins using light-activated and bioorthogonal chemistries. These methods, combined with quantitative, high-throughput, proteomic and genomic read-outs, allow us to dissect the complex mechanisms governing cellular processed involved in DNA metabolism, gene regulation, cellular signaling. Having a long-standing interest in chromatin biology, we currently focus on mechanism of chromatin dynamics, histone modifications and epigenetic inheritance. We are studying the function of Polycomb group proteins and their histone marks in setting and maintaining developmental gene expression programs. We are also interested in the molecular underpinnings of pluripotency and mechanism that initiate lineage commitment in early embryonic development. Lastly, we have a separate research program in understanding the role of small proteins and peptides in cells, again relying on our synthetic biology toolbox to elucidate their function in the cellular context.
The Elsässer Lab 