ESR 15: Marialucrezia Losito

Mechanistic characterization of genome editing nucleases

LightDyNAmics Research

Genome editing has the potential to be transformative in delivering future therapeutics. Increased mechanistic understanding of endonuclease systems on a molecular level will be key to future developments of genome editing. The Ph.D. student will characterize the molecular mechanisms, interactions and enzymology underlying gene-editing systems including base editors and will have the opportunity to utilize a range of Biochemical and Biophysical experimental approaches.

Scientific Background

2013-2016: Bachelor Degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Bari.

2016-2018: Master Degree in Functional Genomic from the University of Trieste. Master thesis in structural biology titled “Structural investigation of NPM1 and NPM1-HMGA2 protein interaction”. The thesis project was carried out at the University of Glasgow, thanks to an Erasmus Traineeship Programme.

The main focus of Marialucrezias PhD research project will be the characterization of the molecular mechanisms, interactions and enzymology underlying gene-editing system. Optimization of current systems such as CRISPR-Cas through comprehensive assessment of DNA-Protein interaction mechanisms may enable reduction in off-target effects and will be key to future developments in genome editing systems.

Scientific Publications