Molecular mechanisms of post-transcriptional gene regulation will be studied
02.07.2013
Dr. Julian König has been appointed as a Group Leader at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) in Mainz. He will study RNA biology, with a particular focus on the molecular mechanisms of post-transcriptional gene regulation, using a variety of high-throughput sequencing-based technologies.
Humans contain a huge diversity of proteins. Alternative splicing is the key mechanism by which cells generate this diversity. Dr. Julian König will investigate how protein networks act to regulate this process. One of Dr. König's major interests is the splicing of transposable elements. This is a common cause of genetic disease and, at the same time, also considered an important driving force of primate evolution. To study protein-RNA interactions, König uses a number of genome-wide approaches that provide us with a systemic understanding of the molecular mechanisms in action. Methods used in his lab include RNA-seq and novel methods that he has developed such as iCLIP.
Before joining the Institute of Molecular Biology in Mainz, Dr. Julian König worked in the group of Professor Jernej Ule at the renowned Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK. Here he developed the iCLIP technology and discovered a general mechanism that protects the human transcriptome against the erroneous splicing of transposable elements. With his expertise of high-throughput sequencing-based RNA tools, Dr. König's lab will complement the research portfolio of the IMB.
The Institute of Molecular Biology gGmbH (IMB)
The Institute of Molecular Biology gGmbH (IMB) is a new center of excellence in the life sciences which was established in March 2011. Research at IMB concentrates on three cutting-edge areas: epigenetics, developmental biology, and DNA repair. The institute is a prime example of a successful collaboration between public authorities and a private foundation. The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation has dedicated EUR 100 million for a period of ten years to cover the operating costs for research at IMB, while the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate provided approximately EUR 50 million for the construction of a state-of-the-art building.
For more information about IMB please visit: www.imb-mainz.de.
The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation
The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization committed to the promotion of the medical, biological, chemical, and pharmaceutical sciences. It was established in 1977 by Hubertus Liebrecht (1931-1991), a member of the shareholder family of the company Boehringer Ingelheim. With the "PLUS 3" Perspectives Program and the Exploration Grants, the foundation supports independent group leaders, it endows the internationally renowned Heinrich Wieland Prize as well as awards for up-and-coming scientists. In addition, the foundation has endowed EUR 100 million over a period of ten years to finance the scientific running of the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.
For more information about the foundation and its programs, please visit www.boehringer-ingelheim-stiftung.de.