Opening for Masters students in the Gönczy Laboratory in 2024!
The project is to be chosen amongst the ones listed below. Each project is conducted ideally during 2 semesters, but can be adapted to last only 1. Contact Pierre Gönczy ([email protected]) to find out more!
1. Re-engineering SAS-6 proteins
Keywords: cell biology, centriole organelle, CRISPR/Cas9, microscopy
Objective: test whether centrioles can form and function in human cells with engineered SAS-6 proteins with altered sizes and/or symmetries.
Approaches: human cell culture, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated engineering, expansion microscopy, super-resolution microscopy.
Ideal for students in: Life Sciences, Bioengineering.
Wet
2. Cellular engineering of modified centriole duplication cycle in human cells
Keywords: molecular biology, cell biology, centriole organelle, microscopy
Objective: engineer and analyze centriole duplication cycle with altered organelle number control (1>2, instead of usual 2>4).
Approaches: molecular and cell biology, expansion microscopy, super-resolution microscopy, live imaging.
Ideal for students in: Life Sciences, Bioengineering.
Wet
3. Biochemical, structural, and functional characterization of monobodies targeting the human centriolar protein SAS-6
Keywords: cell biology, centriole organelle, microscopy
Objective: characterize 3 monobodies directed against the human centriolar protein SAS-6 to uncover their mechanism of action.
Approaches: protein production, biochemical characterization (ITC, mass photometry), structural characterization (X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM), dynamical analysis (HS-AFM); fixed and live cell imaging (including super-resolution and expansion microscopy).
Ideal for students in: Life Sciences, Bioengineering.
Wet
4. Analyzing novel centriolar proteins in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Keywords: cell biology, green algae, centriole, CRISPR/Cas9, microscopy
Objective: identify the localization and test the function of novel centriolar proteins in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
Approaches: CRISPR/Cas9-mediated GFP tagging, as well as disruption, of novel centriolar proteins in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, expansion microscopy, super-resolution microscopy.
Ideal for students in: Life Sciences, Bioengineering.
Wet
5. Evolutionary diversity and origin of centriolar proteins
Keywords: centriole, computational biology, evolution of protein families
Objective: identify homologues of fundamental centriolar proteins across the domains of life and thus help trace the origin of the centriole organelle; test newly identified candidates in cell free assay.
Approaches: computational biology, structural prediction, cell biology
Ideal for students in: Computer Sciences, Life Sciences
Collaboration between the Bitbol and Gönczy laboratories (EPFL, Life Sciences).
Dry + Wet
6. Engineer optogenetic tools to probe symmetry breaking in C. elegans embryos
Keywords: C. elegans, embryogenesis, symmetry breaking, cell polarity
Objective: generate and deploy worm strains expressing optogenetically actionable proteins to probe mechanisms of symmetry breaking in one-cell C. elegans embryos
Approaches: project design, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated tagging, live imaging.
Ideal for students in: Life Sciences, Bioengineering.
Wet
7. Analyzing genes that set organismal thermal limits
Keywords: yeast, worms, thermal range, computational biology, functional genomics
Objective: analyze outcome of a screen performed in the yeast S. cerevisiae to identify genes important for determining organismal thermal range; investigate whether their function is conserved in the nematode C. elegans.
Approaches: computational biology, functional genomics, microscopy.
Ideal for students in: Life Sciences, Computer Sciences
Dry + Wet