My lab focuses on reprogramming and expanding the genetic code of multicellular organisms. We modify the cellular protein synthesis machinery, enabling a cell to produce proteins using chemically synthesized designer amino acids with properties not found in nature. Our model organism of choice is the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans.

We use our approach to develop advanced neurobiological tools, for example by engineering light activateable versions of proteins. In the future these tools will allow us to study, with single-cell or even subcellular precision, how the worm’s nervous system computes sensory inputs to produce behavioural outputs.