Genetically engineered cells will be actuated by magnetic gradients

Master’s on remote magnetic control of mammalian cells

13.06.2025, Studentische Hilfskräfte, Praktikantenstellen, Studienarbeiten

Are you interested in the prospects of manipulating biological structures with magnetic fields to intervene in central cellular processes relevant in biomedicine? Then you should be interested in this Master’s project Westmeyer Lab https://www.westmeyerlab.org/, on using genetically engineered cells expressing biomagnetic nanostructures [3,4] that can be actuated by magnetic gradients under imaging control.

Your Profile

• an excellent and recent Bachelor's degree in (bio-)physics, biochemistry, biological engineering, biomedical engineering, or related academic programs,

• genuine interest in the powerful applications of NV-centers ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen-vacancy_center )

• previous experience with microscopy and mammalian cell culture,

• the ability to be self-motivated and work with an interdisciplinary team of bioengineers, biochemists, neuroscientists, and data scientists,

• excellent English language and organizational skills.

• an openness and mobility to collaborate with our partners at Max Planck Institutes, MIT, Caltech, and the University of Washington.

TUM

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) combines top-class facilities for cutting-edge research with unique learning opportunities for students. It is committed to finding solutions to the major challenges facing society as we move forward: Health & Nutrition • Energy & Natural Resources • Environment & Climate • Information & Communications • Mobility & Infrastructure. The university thinks and acts with an entrepreneurial spirit. Its aim: to create lasting value for society. All this combines to make it one of Europe's leading universities.

Applications from disabled persons with essentially the same qualifications will be given preference. TUM strives to raise the proportion of women in its workforce and explicitly encourages applications from qualified women.

Please send your letter of motivation and your complete CV to silviu.bodea@tum.de

References:

[1] Maria V Efremova, Ulf Wiedwald, Felix Sigmund, Silviu‐Vasile Bodea, Hendrik Ohldag, Thomas Feggeler, Ralf Meckenstock, Lorenz N Panzl, Jeroen Francke, Irina Beer, Natalia P Ivleva, Irina B Alieva, Anastasiia S Garanina, Alevtina S Semkina, Franziska Curdt, Nicolas Josten, Sebastian Wintz, Michael Farle, Reinoud Lavrijsen, Maxim A Abakumov, Michael Winklhofer, Gil G Westmeyer 2025, Genetically Controlled Iron Oxide Biomineralization in Encapsulin Nanocompartments for Magnetic Manipulation of a Mammalian Cell Line. Advanced Functional Materials ; https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adfm.202418013

[2] Sigmund, F., Massner, C., Erdmann, P., Stelzl, A., Rolbieski, H., Desai, M., Bricault, S., Wörner, T.P., Snijder, J., Geerlof, A., Fuchs, H., Hrabe de Angelis, M., Heck, A.J.R., Jasanoff, A., Ntziachristos, V., Plitzko, J., Westmeyer, G.G., 2018. Bacterial encapsulins as orthogonal compartments for mammalian cell engineering. Nat Commun 9, 1990. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04227-3

[3] Sigmund, F., Pettinger, S., Kube, M., Schneider, F., Schifferer, M., Schneider, S., Efremova, M.V., Pujol-Martí, J., Aichler, M., Walch, A., Misgeld, T., Dietz, H., Westmeyer, G.G., 2019. Iron-Sequestering Nanocompartments as Multiplexed Electron Microscopy Gene Reporters. ACS Nano 13, 8114–8123. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.9b03140

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Kontakt: silviu.bodea@tum.de