Internship Project
Biology

Purifying the Powerhouse of the Human Parasite Toxoplasma gondii

Institution
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Institute of Biology
Subject Area
Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Parasitology
Availability
05 May – 25 July
 
Internship Modality:
On-site internship in Berlin

Applications for 2025 are closed.
Project Supervisor(s)
Prof. Dr. Christian Schmitz-Linneweber, Prof. Dr. Nishith Gupta
Academic Level
PhD students
Language
English
Further Information
Project Type
Academic Research
Project Content
The aim of this project is to establish a Toxoplasma gondii cell line that enables the purification of mitochondria. The candidate will construct transfection vectors via molecular cloning and use them to engineer transgenic Toxoplasma gondii strains. These strains will facilitate mitochondrial purification. The purity of the isolated mitochondria will be confirmed by biochemical methods.

The pure organellar fractions will enable comprehensive analyses of mitochondrial biology. Additionally, the fractions will allow drug specificity testing and structure-function analysis of parasite-specific proteins.

Tasks for Interns
  • Use genetic, molecular and biochemical tools to manipulate and analyze Toxoplasma gondii cells, the human pathogen causing Toxoplasmosis.
  • Generate transgenic Toxoplasma gondii lines that allow purification of organelles
Academic Level
PhD students
Requirements
  • Previous lab work experience in transgenic methods, including molecular cloning
  • Ideally, experience working with Apicomplexan parasites
  • Previous experience in biochemistry and cell biology

Expected Preparation
  • Reading recent publications of the group:
    • Elife doi: 10.7554/eLife.95407.
    • NAR doi: 10.1093/nar/gky710.
  • Please write a concise motivation letter, max. 1 page, highlighting how your work aligns with ours.

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For more information on the Humboldt Internship Program or the project, please contact the program coordinator.