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Münster (upm/ch)
A portrait of Prof Seraphine Wegner. Her face is illuminated in red from the left and in blue from the right. In the background, laboratory equipment can be seen out of focus.<address>© Uni MS - Florian Kochinke</address>
Prof Seraphine Wegner wants to enable biological cells to communicate with each other using light signals.
© Uni MS - Florian Kochinke

“Consolidator Grant” awarded to Seraphine Wegner

European Research Council awards 2.4 million euros to fund synthetic biology project

Prof Seraphine Wegner from the Institute of Physiological Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry at the University of Münster has received an ERC Consolidator Grant worth 2.4 million euros from the European Research Council (ERC). With this grant, the EU is supporting the five-year “lighthouse” project, which aims to get biological cells to communicate with each other using light signals.

Artistic impression of two cells exchanging light signals<address>© Seraphine Wegner/generated using AI (Chat-GPT, DALL·E)</address>
Artistic impression of two cells exchanging light signals
© Seraphine Wegner/generated using AI (Chat-GPT, DALL·E)
In multicellular systems, such as tissues and biofilms, cells communicate via chemical signals. These signals are highly complex and have so far made it impossible for humans to selectively manipulate cell-to-cell communication. Seraphine Wegner and her team want to develop a new form of cellular communication that does not yet exist in nature and is based on light rather than chemical signals. “This form of communication is extremely effective and fast, as the signal reaches the target cell at the speed of light and is not affected or disrupted by natural cell signals,” explains Seraphine Wegner. This means that new communication paths in multicellular systems can be programmed according to a modular scheme. This should help facilitate innovative applications in biotechnology and cellular bionics.

Seraphine Wegner's research is chiefly anchored in the field of synthetic biology which involves developing artificial biological systems with new properties. For example, such systems can be used to understand cellular functions, produce medical agents or other desired substances, or serve as biological sensors.

Professor Wegner received an ERC Starting Grant in 2018, just one year before joining the Institute of Physiological Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine. Seraphine Wegner is a member of the Collaborative Research Centres 1348 (Dynamic Cellular Interfaces), 1450 (inSight) and 1459 (Intelligent Matter), and is part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie doctoral network “SigSynCell”.

Further information