We publish a comprehensive review on the basic biology of encapsulin systems in Annual Review of Biochemistry.

We publish a study on the fundamentals of ion flux through encapsulin pores in Science Advances: “Pore structure controls stability and molecular flux in engineered protein cages”. We are grateful to our excellent collaborators from Australia for their insights and hard work!

Jesse and Mike publish a great work of protein engineering in Angewandte: “Triggered reversible disassembly of an engineered protein nanocage”. The largest known encapsulin - discovered by our lab - was engineered to reversibly disassemble under mild conditions. This system may prove useful for various bionanotechnological and drug delivery applications.

We welcome Ryan Torres (PCB) to the lab for his rotation. Ryan will work on the characterization of novel archaeal encapsulin systems. Welcome Ryan!

Mike publishes a new computational genome-mining study vastly expanding the field of encapsulin biology:
”Large-scale computational discovery and analysis of virus-derived microbial nanocompartments”. Congrats Mike!

Casandra Sandoval (ChemBio) and Michael Cadigan (PIBS CMB) join the lab for summer rotations. Casandra will work on investigating novel encapsulin systems associated with natural product biosynthetic gene clusters and Michael will work on novel types of iron-sequestration encapsulins. Welcome!

We are very excited for Natalia Ubilla (PIBS Biological Chemistry) to join the lab! She will be exploring different aspects of encapsulin biology and engineering. Welcome Natalia!

We are very excited for Seokmu Kwon (Chemical Engineering) to join our lab! He will be exploring different aspects of encapsulin engineering and biology utilizing a wide variety of protein engineering, synthetic biology, and biochemistry approaches. Welcome Kwon!

First years Natalia Ubilla (PIBS Biochem) and Seokmu Kwon (ChemE) join the lab for rotations. Natalia will work on investigating the structure and function of unusual fusion encapsulins involved in iron storage and detoxification. Kwon will work on engineering the next generation of encapsulin-based multifunctional reporters. Welcome!

Jesse publishes a new comprehensive review on “Advances in Encapsulin Biology and Engineering”! Congrats Jesse!

First year Biological Chemistry (BioC) student Chase Lindeboom joins the lab for a rotation. Yun will work on biochemically characterizing novel archaeal encapsulin systems. Welcome Chase!

Cassie was awarded a very well deserved NSF Graduate Research Fellowship which will support her research in the Giessen Lab. She managed to do it on her first try, you go Cassie!

We are very excited for Robert Benisch (Program in Chemical Biology) and Cassie Dutcher (PIBS Biological Chemistry) to join our lab! Both will be exploring different aspects of encapsulin biology and engineering utilizing a wide variety of biochemistry, structural biology, microbiology and protein engineering approaches. Welcome Robert and Cassie!

First year Biological Chemistry (BioC) student Yun Zhang joins the lab for a rotation. Yun will work on characterizing and engineering encapsulins involved in iron storage and release. Welcome Yun!

First year Chemical Biology (PCB) student Robert Benisch joins the lab. Robert will work on characterizing novel non-classical encapsulin systems. Welcome Robert!

Tobias accepts an invitation to join the Engineering Biology Research Consortium. EBRC strives to advance engineering biology to address national and global needs. It is one of the most prolific and influential organizations in the synthetic biology space.

Our paper with the title “Large protein organelles form a new iron sequestration system with high storage capacity” was published in eLife today. This work was a collaboration with the labs of Maofu Liao and Pam Silver at Harvard Medical School. Thanks for the great collaboration!

First year PIBS Biological Chemistry student Cassie Dutcher joins the lab for a summer rotation. Cassie will work on engineering encapsulins as molecular tools for cell biology and bionanotechnology. Welcome Cassie!