Research at the Department of Biochemistry

Our research focuses on the study of cellular proteins with an emphasis on structural aspects such as interactions, folding, engineering, structure determination and prediction. We believe that the employment of quantitative approaches is essential to progress in our endeavors.

The Department of Biochemistry comprises 8 research groups and approximately 180 members. Key areas of activity include:

• computational structural biology (Caflisch group)
• ion channels and transporters (Dutzler group)
• protein structure analysis (Grütter group)
• Cryo-electron tomography of eukaryotic cells (Medalia group)
• protein engineering and directed protein evolution (Plückthun group)
• single molecule spectroscopy of protein folding and dynamics (Schuler group)
• Structure and function of ABC transporters (Seeger group)
• neuroscience (Sonderegger, Emeritus active group)

The common focus on proteins brought about synergies and allowed the department to become a major player in protein science. As a consequence of this the department has a high publication output and more than half of our research groups participate in leading national and international programs, such as

• the international EU Program P-CUBE (Infrastructure for Protein Production Platforms) presided by Markus Grütter
• the National Centre of Competence in ResearchStructural Biology presided by Markus Grütter
• the National Centre of Competence in Research Neural Plasticity and Repair