New research group brings structural biology knowledge to BRIC
Eva Kummer is the new group leader at BRIC. She moves her lab, knowledge and technology from Center for Protein Research, CPR.
As a “highly promising starting group leader with novel and ambitious projects”, Eva Kummer was awarded the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s Hallas-Møller Emerging Investigator grant when her group was established at CPR in 2021. Today, 3.5 years, lots of research, and prestigious publications later, the Kummer group is a well-established lab, now ready to move their research to BRIC.
“Moving to BRIC gives the group future perspective for our projects, and we are looking forward to evolving and establishing new projects and collaborations," says Eva Kummer.
Apart from Eva Kummer, her lab consists of seven group members who are biochemists and structural biologists. The lab is moving due to the upcoming closing of CPR.
Research in mitochondria
While Eva Kummer was a postdoc at ETH Zurich, she became interested in how mitochondria produce the proteins necessary for the conversion of energy stored in food into chemical energy coins that the body can use to run all different types of cellular processes.
Mitochondria have remained the focus of the Kummer group, but the scope of the research questions has extended from mitochondrial ribosomes to the molecular machinery that maintains and expresses mitochondrial DNA.
“We study how mitochondrial DNA is replicated and aim to identify factors that help to repair mitochondrial DNA when it gets damaged”, says Eva Kummer, adding that the group moreover runs projects to understand the complex assembly process of mitochondrial ribosomes from 80 protein and RNA components.
“Curiously, mitochondrial replication depends on proteins of viral origin, and we have more recently started to complement our mitochondrial work with an additional research focus on viral replication systems of prevalent human pathogens with currently limited options for treatment,” explains Eva Kummer.
Brings knowledge and technology
While unboxing their equipment and moving their research, the Kummer group is looking forward to establishing themselves as an integrated part of BRIC’s research environment.
The group has a strong expertise in structural biology as well as protein and nucleic acid biochemistry. They use cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) as their main workhorse for structure determination of the protein-nucleic acid complexes they are interested in.
“As structural biologists we bring knowledge and methods with us that can complement the research currently being conducted at BRIC. We are happy to use our expertise in visualizing molecules at atomic details to hopefully enrich the research opportunities at BRIC,” says Eva Kummer.
However, no research is possible without the adequate support.
“I would like to acknowledge BRIC for investing resources in our startup, so we could set up a new cell culture room and other equipment essential for our work,” says Eva Kummer, who also acknowledges the Leo Foundation for granting funding for crucial infrastructure and an automated protein purification system.
The Kummer group joined BRIC on October 1, 2024.