News & updates
Latest developments from our institute
Stay informed about new research results, awards, events, and collaborations across our scientific community.
Creating life from lifeless biomolecules with AI and lab evolution
“What is life? How does a living cell emerge from lifeless molecules?” wondered a multidisciplinary team of Dutch scientists. To answer these questions the research team, with three AMOLF research groups and led by TU Delft, aims to build a living synthetic cell from lifeless biomolecules, using laboratory evolution and artificial intelligence for the first time. The ten-year research program to do so, entitled “Evolving life from non-life” or simply “EVOLF”, was awarded 40 million euro by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) as part of the Summit grants scheme.
Kristina Ganzinger connected to Oncode Institute as Junior Investigator
AMOLF group leader Kristina Ganzinger has been selected by the Oncode Institute to join as Junior Investigator. The institute selected 10 junior investigators out of 72 applicants. The researchers were selected based on the quality of their science, expertise and potential to contribute to the mission of Oncode Institute: to accelerate breakthrough discoveries and speed up their translation into new diagnostics and treatments for cancer patients. Ganzinger will also continue her work at AMOLF leading the group Physics of Cellular Interactions.
Studying individual molecules to understand how a cell’s inner life makes cells function
To understand the fundamental processes of life we need to understand the language that cells use to communicate with each other and to orchestrate their joint behavior. This is important for vital processes such as DNA replication, protein synthesis and signal transmission. Since cells communicate through interactions of molecules, researchers at AMOLF and the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Munich developed a technique to study individual molecules in model membranes. They first published the results in 2021 (see reference below). Using self-renewing DNA-based fluorescent labels, they were able to observe them for extended times. Overcoming the constraints of conventional fading fluorescent markers, the new technique enables unprecedented quantitative studies of molecular interactions in living systems. Now, their latest advancements on this DNA-PAINT based single-particle tracking method (DNA-PAINT-SPT) also enables them to see individual molecules binding to each other in live cells. This study was published in Nature Communications on July 19th (see reference below).
Kristina Ganzinger member of De Jonge Akademie
The KNAW has selected ten new members for ‘De Jonge Akademie’, one of which is AMOLF group leader Kristina Ganzinger (Physics of Cellular Interactions). Members of ‘De Jonge Akademie’ are researchers who are interested in the role science plays in society and who have finished their doctoral studies less than ten years ago.
Vidi grant for Kristina Ganzinger
AMOLF group leader Kristina Ganzinger (Physics of Cellular Interactions) is one of the 78 researchers who received a NWO Vidi grant that is worth 800.000 euros. This grant allows Ganzinger to further expand her research on immune cell signaling using advanced microscopy and synthetic biology tools.
A new spin on making minimal cells
The ability of a cell to separate its own matter from its surroundings is a basic requirement for life. A team of researchers at AMOLF and Delft University of Technology have managed to create a synthetic container, or lipid vesicle, that is able to hold a range of different biological systems: from a cytoskeleton to entire E.coli bacteria. Their findings on this optimized cDICE method, which has the potential to reveal the inner workings of life, are published in ACS Synthetic Biology on June 29, 2021.
Kristina Ganzinger awarded by KHMW
On September 11th, group leader Kristina Ganzinger has been awarded this year’s Pieter Langerhuizen Lambertuszoon Fonds of the Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (KHMW).
WISE fellow Kristina Ganzinger starts new research group at AMOLF
On September 1st, Kristina Ganzinger will start as tenure track group leader. Ganzinger comes to AMOLF with a WISE fellowship, which is part of an NWO program for excellent female researchers. With her research group Physics of Cellular Interactions, she reinforces the Living Matter department headed by Gijsje Koenderink.