Elias Research Lab

Evolution

ENGINEERING & STRUCTURAL Biology

Research Projects

Microbes are capable of thriving in most extreme conditions, including high temperature, acidity, high pressure, radiation, dessication, or poisonous environments. We focus on the molecular mechanisms and determinants that allow for their extreme adaptability.

Extremophiles: The Struggle for Survival

Numerous ions are both essential for Life and limiting in natural environments. We investigate the elaborated molecular strategies utilized by microbes to scavenge these essential nutrients from depleted environments while excluding potentially toxic competitors.

Ion Transport in Microbes

Hijacking Bacterial Communication Systems to fight antibiotic resistance

Bacteria are using chemical signalling to exchange information and coordinate behaviors. We develop molecular tools to hijack this communication and study this information flux. This is a promising way to address microbial resistance.

PROJECTS

ABOUT

THE STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL

Deciphering the molecular determinants accounting for the adaptability of extremophiles.

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ABOUT

Biological macromolecules comprise fantastic objects with nearly unlimited activities and potentialities. Their use in biotechnology has already changed several segments of industry including the detergents, paper industries, the food industry (e.g. sugar), and is expected to revolutionize the medical industry.

Our Lab aims to decipher the mechanisms by which those molecules evolve, to understand the molecular basis of their biological functions, and to develop new methods for their engineering, with the aim of developing soft, ecological solutions to current or emerging society issues. The current methods used in the Lab are spanning from molecular biology and microbiology, to protein engineering, structural biology and bioinformatics.