Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering

Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering

Assistant Professor Dan Bracha

Lab description:
Our lab investigates the programmed self-organization of dynamic membraneless assemblies, collectively known as biomolecular condensates, which coordinate many cellular processes, including gene regulation, signaling, and cellular metabolism, and are linked to diseases such as neurodegeneration and cancer. The assembly and physiology of these structures rely on the physicochemical principles of liquid-liquid phase separation, which imparts unique material properties and modes of action that science is only beginning to understand. Our work combines cell biology, quantitative biophysics, and advanced imaging, with the design of novel bioengineered strategies to probe and manipulate intracellular condensates, uncovering how their dynamic composition and underlying physical chemistry maintain cellular homeostasis and how their dysregulation contributes to dysfunction and disease.

Projects:
 The proposed research project involves the use of optogenetically modified disease-associated proteins to investigate the collective transitions they undergo in cultured cells under various conditions. The work in the lab will provide students with hands-on experience in cell biology and cell biophysics, including the generation and maintenance of stable cell lines, time-lapse fluorescence imaging, and quantitative image analysis.

Required background:
Biology, Biophysics, Bioengineering, Biomaterials, Biochemistry, Biomedicine

Lab Link: http://danbracha.weebly.com

Assistant Professor Tzachi Reizel

Lab description:
Our primary goal is to develop epigenetic editing approaches to affect cell identity in the context of cellular differentiation, cancer, and aging.

Much like genetic editing, epigenetic editing aims to modify epigenetic patterns to activate or repress gene expression. The advantage of epigenetic editing over genetic editing is that it does not change the actual DNA sequence, thus circumventing the risk of creating new genetic aberrations.

Our primary epigenetic model is DNA methylation, a covalent modification of the DNA itself associated with gene repression. We utilize DNA methylation editing to improve the quality of produced cells for cell therapy and better understand the role of epigenetics in tumor development and aggressiveness. We also examine if epigenetic editing could be utilized to reverse aging.

Required background:
Biology for wet lab work or computer science for data analysis

Lab Link: http://reizellab.com/

Professor Uri Lesmes

Lab description:

The Lesmes Lab invite you to join one of our ongoing studies on the interplay between food formulations and their digestive fate in the body of different consumers.
Our research uses in vitro human digestion models to underpin the digestibility of alternative proteins, structured emulsions and novel foods/ingredients in different individuals (for example https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0268005X22003708?via%3Dihub)

Required background:
chemistry and biochemistry as well as basic experience in lab work. Relevant background in food science, food technology and/or nutrition would be advantageous.

Lab Link: https://lesmesu.net.technion.ac.il/research/

Professor Esthi Meyron-Holtz

Lab description:
In the Laboratory of Molecular Nutrition, we study molecular mechanisms of mammalian iron homeostasis in health and disease. We are interested in the different transport and storage systems within and between cells and how they adapt to stress situations. This takes us to different organs in the body and to different cell types of the immune system such as macrophages and neutrophils.

Using a combination of different molecular and cellular techniques, we study iron homeostasis in response to various stimuli including inflammation and infection and how alterations in iron homeostasis contribute to conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.

You can read more about us on our web-page https://biotech.technion.ac.il/en/member/meyron-holtz/

Interested students are welcome to come alone (total immersion) or in pairs (share the experience) and will join in, on one of the projects running in the lab, doing a well-defined small project that is aimed to answer one small question.

Required background: Students must have some background in cellular and molecular biology and preferably also in immunology. Basic experience with bench work in molecular biology is a plus as well.

Lab Link: https://biotech.technion.ac.il/en/member/meyron-holtz/

Assistant Professor Michael Levy

Research Field:
Synthetic biology, Biophysics, Soft Matter

The assembly of autonomous self-replicating artificial cells exhibiting the essential characteristics of life is one of the great contemporary scientific challenges. Our laboratory develops experimental strategies to ultimately move toward the assembly of such artificial living systems.

As a general approach, we design biosynthetic platforms based on DNA chips and cell-free gene expression to mimic cellular processes on artificial systems. The transition from a complex three-dimensional natural cell to a two-dimensional structured chip enables us to reduce biological complexity and reach minimal reconstituted systems.

Required background:
All engineering fields, biology, physics, and chemistry

Lab link: https://levy.net.technion.ac.il/