Recombinant Protein Expression

Proteins play an important role in infectious diseases. They not only take over central functions in the invasion and replication of pathogens, but also in the defensive reaction of our body or as a drug. For a detailed investigation of proteins, scientists often require them in large amounts and extremely pure state. Read more about how proteins are artificially produced and purified.

Leader

Dr Joop van den Heuvel

“Sometimes a little less is more.”

Joop van den Heuvel studied biochemistry at the Free University in Amsterdam and also passed his PhD there from 1985 to 1990 about the effect of mRNA structure on the translational efficiency. After that, he started as a postdoc at the former German Research Centre for Biotechnology (GBF) in Braunschweig, where he worked on the production and purification of proteins. From then on, Joop van den Heuvel has been faithful to this research field. In 1996, he became a project leader in the Department of Biochemical Engineering, and in 2002 he started to work in the Department of Structural Biology. Since 2007, he leads the “Protein Sample Production Facility“ (PSPF) of the HZI, which uses mammalian cells for a large-scale production of recombinant proteins. One year later, he additionally became the leader of the research group “Recombinant Protein Expression”, where he and his colleagues are involved in research as well as in commissioned work.

Bachelor & Master
Are you interested in a bachelor or master thesis? We are looking forward to your request!

Audio Podcast

  • EHEC-Forschung an der molekularen Basis – Wissenschaft jenseits des MainstreamEHEC hat in den letzten Monaten viele Opfer gefordert und ist zu einer zweifelhaften Berühmtheit geworden. Jenseits dieser Prominenz forschen Wissenschaftler am HZI schon seit Jahren an den Mechanismen, mit denen uns diese Bakterien krank machen. Begleiten Sie Jens de Groot in sein Labor und hören Sie zu, wie er Kristalle mit Röntgenstrahlen beschießt...
  • Viel Insulin für wenig Geld – Helmholtz-Wissenschaftler stellen eine neue Produktionsmethode frei ins InternetEtwa 285 Millionen Menschen leiden weltweit an Diabetes. Die meisten von ihnen leben in Ländern, in denen das patentgeschützte industrielle Insulin unbezahlbar ist. Doch nun laufen diese Patente aus. Am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung haben Wissenschaftler nun eine kostengünstige Methode entwickelt, um Insulin herzustellen – und haben sie frei zugänglich ins Internet gestellt. Ursula Rinas erzählt Ihnen, wie sie und ihre Kollegen das geschafft haben – und welche Probleme sie dabei hatten. Hören Sie rein...
PrintSend per emailShare