Project at a glance

Mechanisms, control and impact of genome rearrangements

Our group studies genomic DNA rearrangements with a focus on mobile genetic elements and transposons. These special DNA segments can relocate within and between genomes, causing harmful mutations, but also driving adaptation and evolution throughout the tree of life. We strive to understand how mobile DNA can autonomously jump across genomes and how their movements impact the physiology, adaptation and evolution of their host organisms. Major projects relate to DNA elements that carry antibiotic resistance genes in multidrug-resistant bacteria, eukaryotic transposons that offer genetic engineering tools and retrotransposons that are implicated in human disease.

We integrate structural biology, biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular genetics studies, with systems-level bioinformatics, genomics, and cell biology approaches to gain functionally annotated molecular movies of DNA transactions. This knowledge then helps us to develop new approaches to counteract pathological effects of transposons, and design new tools for genetic research, technology and therapy.