Scientific Report on TUM-IAS Fellowship
The Focus Group for Synthetic Biochemistry was part of the TUM-IAS family from April 2014 until April 2020, during which time I was a Rudolf Mößbauer Fellow at the TUM-IAS and appointed as a W2 Tenure Track Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at TUM. In April 2020 I was tenured as a W3 Associate Professor at TUM, and since April 2021 I am Full Professor for Chemical Biology at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. full report
Short CV
Professor Lang studied chemistry at the University of Innsbruck where she obtained a PhD in bioorganic chemistry under the supervision of Professor Micura in 2008. She subsequently worked as a postdoctoral and investigator scientist at the Medical Research Council – Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, in the research groups of Dr. Ramakrishnan (ribosome crystallography) and Professor Chin (chemical and synthetic biology). She now heads the synthetic biochemistry research group in the Chemistry Faculty.
Selected Awards
- 2012, Anton Paar Science Award of the Austrian Chemical Society, GÖCH
- 2012, MRC Centenary Early Career Award, Medical Research Council – Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK
- 2010, Young Investigator Award of the Zonta Club Bolzano/Bozen, Italy
- 2009, Karl Schlögl Award of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, ÖAW
- 2009, Georg and Christine Sosnovsky Award, Innsbruck, Austria
Research Interests
Professor Lang (b. 1979) conducts research in the interdisciplinary area of chemical biology, applying concepts from organic chemistry to develop new tools to study fundamental biological questions. Her research focuses on the targeted chemical synthesis of new artificial biomolecules (amino acids, proteins, nucleotides, oligonucleotides) tailored to investigate and manipulate complex cellular processes in in vitro and in vivo biological systems.
Selected Publications
- Lang, Kathrin; Davis, Lloyd; Wallace, Stephen; Mahesh, Mohan; Cox, Daniel J.; Blackman, Melissa L.; Fox, Joseph M.; Chin, Jason W.: Genetic Encoding of Bicyclononynes and trans -Cyclooctenes for Site-Specific Protein Labeling in Vitro and in Live Mammalian Cells via Rapid Fluorogenic Diels–Alder Reactions. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134 (25), 2012, 10317-10320.
- Lang, Kathrin; Davis, Lloyd; Torres-Kolbus, Jessica; Chou, Chungjung; Deiters, Alexander; Chin, Jason W.: Genetically encoded norbornene directs site-specific cellular protein labelling via a rapid bioorthogonal reaction. Nature Chemistry 4 (4), 2012, 298-304.
- Ng, C Leong; Lang, Kathrin; Meenan, Nicola A G; Sharma, Amit; Kelley, Ann C; Kleanthous, Colin; Ramakrishnan, V: Structural basis for 16S ribosomal RNA cleavage by the cytotoxic domain of colicin E3. Nat Struct Mol Biol 17 (10), 2010, 1241-1246.
- Lang, Kathrin; Erlacher, Matthias; Wilson, Daniel N.; Micura, Ronald; Polacek, Norbert: The Role of 23S Ribosomal RNA Residue A2451 in Peptide Bond Synthesis Revealed by Atomic Mutagenesis. Chemistry & Biology 15 (5), 2008, 485-492.
- Lang, K.; Rieder, R.; Micura, R.: Ligand-induced folding of the thiM TPP riboswitch investigated by a structure-based fluorescence spectroscopic approach. Nucleic Acids Research 35 (16), 2007, 5370-5378.
Publications as TUM-IAS-Fellow
