Dear CCP4bb members, A fully funded postdoctoral position is available in the Barabas Group at the Structural and Computational Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg. EMBL is a world leading international research organization pursuing interdisciplinary research in the Life Sciences (see www.embl.de). The Barabas Group studies the mechanism of movement and regulation of mobile genetic elements by integrating molecular, structural, and cell biology approaches. Transposons comprise half of the human genome, but their physiological roles are just starting to be unraveled. While these 'genomic parasites' can cause harmful genetic rearrangements leading to various diseases (e.g. neurodegeneration and cancer); recent seminal studies show that they also have key functions in vital processes like gene regulation, embryogenesis, immunity, and neurogenesis. However, how transposons are co-opted to benefit host physiology and how they can function without harming the host remains unknown. A striking example of useful transposons can be found in ciliates. These unicellular eukaryotes recruit transposase proteins, the work-horses of transposons, to carry out DNA rearrangements during sexual reproduction. This process discards much of the organisms’ germline genome to create transcriptionally active gene-sized chromosomes. Interestingly, similar to transposon control in animals, these “DNA splicing” events are regulated by non-coding RNA.
We seek a skilled and passionate cell biologist, biochemist, or structural biologist to join an ambitious HFSP-funded interdisciplinary project aimed at understanding the mechanism, regulation and evolution of beneficial transposons in the ciliate Oxytricha trifallax. In collaboration with the Landweber lab at the Princeton University (USA), we will merge structural biology, biochemistry, cell biology, super-resolution microscopy, as well as phylogenomics and computational biology to provide a comprehensive understanding of the process. The successful candidate will be responsible mostly for the biochemical/biophysical, structural biology (mainly X-ray crystallography) and microscopy experiments and will be stationed in the Barabas lab at EMBL. The fellow will be expected to work independently, while well integrated into a highly collaborative team. He/she will be offered expert training in relevant experimental techniques, as well as practice in training students and career mentoring through institutional and individual means. For more information contact Dr. Orsolya Barabas at bara...@embl.de. To apply, please go to www.embl.org/jobs. Best regards, Orsolya Orsolya Barabas, PhD Group Leader Structural and Computational Biology Unit European Molecular Biology Laboratory Meyerhofstrasse 1, Rm 341a 69117 Heidelberg, Germany E-mail: bara...@embl.de
