Dr. Christian R. Boehm

Conducting foresight activities and assessing risks/benefits associated with modern biotechnologies

Developing metabolic engineering and synthetic biology in chloroplasts

Leading and managing the European Association of Synthetic Biology Students and Postdocs (EUSynBioS), an integrative central resource for networking and professional development of young researchers in the field of synthetic biology

Developed gene expression control for synthetic patterning of bacterial populations and plants

Provided scientific guidance for the University of Cambridge 2016 iGEM team

Taught and assessed small group tutorials on plant defences, biodiversity conservation, and next-generation plant breeding

Supervised and assessed practicals on the induction of nitrate reductase, stomatal physiology, and viral infection of plants

Supported selection and provided scientific guidance for the University of Cambridge 2014 iGEM team

Analysed codon usage across the transcriptome of the basal plant Marchantia polymorpha and refined a protocol for the genetic manipulation of its chloroplasts

Taught a pilot course for interdisciplinary groups of undergraduate students with emphasis on honing teamwork, problem solving, and communication skills. Following great pilot success, Imperial Horizons was massively expanded in 2013 to embrace four fields of study over four undergraduate years

Supervised and assessed practicals in quantitative chemical analysis with emphasis on experimental accuracy and independent learning

Developed synthetic self-assembling peptide scaffolds for controlled osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stromal cells

Devised a scheme for combinatorial and hierarchical DNA assembly via standardized end-sequences, enabling the rapid construction of high complexity libraries of synthetic operons to streamline the design and optimization of metabolic pathways

Contributed to elucidation of the interaction topology between formylmethionyl-tRNA and initiation factor 2 using unnatural amino acid mutagenesis and in vivo crosslinking

Characterized chemoselective glycosylation of recombinant annexin V achieved via supplementation incorporation of non-canonical amino acids

Screened immunochemical reagents for the detection of widespread environmentally relevant substances with the objective of developing an innovative optical immunosensor