Ramesh Vetukuri

Phytophthora infestans causes late blight disease on potato and is controlled by heavy fungicide spraying, raising environmental concerns.  Thus, there is an urgent need to develop alternative means for late blight control. RNA interference (RNAi) is a conserved cellular defense mechanism mediated by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and small RNAs (sRNA) that target specific messenger RNAs for destruction, thereby regulating protein expression. This project builds on our recent discovery that spraying plant surfaces with dsRNAs that target essential P. infestans genes can confer efficient protection against late blight disease. Also called spray-induced gene silencing (SIGS), this strategy is environmentally friendly. We aim to understand how small RNAs are transported during P. infestans infection of potato and to use this knowledge to improve SIGS to control late blight disease. The research question addressed in this proposal is novel and will significantly increase our knowledge of the role of RNAi gene-silencing in plant disease.

Gaston Courtade

Polysaccharides are sugar chains that provide a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based materials. The properties and applications of polysaccharides depend on the layout of sugar building blocks in the chain. To fully harness the potential of polysaccharides as biomaterials, we need to be able to control how they are made by living organisms. Polysaccharides are often assembled by enzymes that transfer a specific type of sugar to another one, creating a chain with defined sequence and properties. The project aims to control and engineer how these enzymes combine the sugar building blocks. This will help us understand how polysaccharides are assembled and at the same time allow us to make polysaccharides with new sequences. Using this knowledge, we hope to one day be able to design tailor-made polysaccharides and biomaterials with unique functions needed in a greener society.

Rosanna Catherine Hennessy

BoostR is an innovative and multidisciplinary research program to identify and characterize small molecules regulating specialized metabolism in biotechnologically relevant bacteria. Specialized metabolites are an important and often untapped source of bioactive compounds with vast applications in industrial and environmental biotechnology. However, under laboratory conditions specialized metabolites are often not produced. To unlock these valuable pathways, a molecular level understanding of the regulators and genetic networks controlling specialized metabolite synthesis is needed. BoostR aims to unlock, unravel and utilize small regulatory molecules to control and boost production of high-value bioactive compounds for biotechnology. This research will benefit society by providing basic and applied research studies to develop new biological systems and products to promote productivity and sustainability.

Jane Wittrup Agger

Lignin, which is a part of the fibrous structure in wood, is a renewable resource that can potentially replace the use of oil and gas in a number of applications and materials, which we consider critical to modern society. Currently, lignin is not used because it is difficult to extract from wood in sufficient quality and form. Wood and plant biomass are already extensively used in many applications, but traditional industrial processing heavily degrades lignin. Consequently, 98% of the lignin that enters processing today is merely burned off.  The purpose of LiFe is to discover new enzymes and non-catalytic proteins that will allow extraction of lignin in a high quality form. We will employ enzymes and other proteins, because they are specific and environmentally friendly catalysts. In the future, high quality lignin will make it feasible to develop highly advanced applications like next generation batteries, carbon fibers, bioplastics, building materials and more, based on plants and not on oil.

Maria Peleli-Pedersen

Many people suffer today from having a ‘fatty’ and therefore sick liver which is often associated to obesity and cardiovascular diseases. More than 2 million people die per year from liver diseases. Therefore, finding new more specialized and personalized treatments is imperative. Three different liver cell types are involved in ‘fatty liver disease’ but how exactly they interact is poorly understood. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a small endogenously produced molecule and lower levels of H2S is a causative factor to liver disease. The more we understand the role and the exact cellular sources of H2S in the liver, the better treatments we can create. We will inhibit the production of H2S in these three different cell types by creating sophisticated mouse and cellular models. We will also use samples from patients suffering from ‘fatty liver disease’. This approach will help us design more targeted and personalized treatments for patients having a fatty liver and associated pathologies.

Paul Petrus

Metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity often occur alongside mental health conditions such as depression, though little is known about this link. Disruption of circadian rhythms increases the risk of developing such comorbidities, yet the underlying mechanisms are poorly studied. To this end, the overarching scope of this project is to dissect the circadian genes and metabolites involved in metabolic- and mental- comorbidity. This will be achieved by combining multiple circadian datasets consisting of global gene expression and metabolite measurements in various organs to identify candidate factors involved in the pathophysiology of these comorbidities. Downstream experiments in cell cultures and mouse models will be utilized to dissect the mechanisms. Ultimately, the goal is to design novel therapies that targets circadian rhythms to treat metabolic- and mental- comorbidities.

Andreas Mæchel Fritzen

Certain types of fats that exist in milk and coconut- and palm kernel oil have health benefits. These fats – referred to as medium-chain fatty acids – help control blood glucose levels and also increase the feeling of satiety and at the same time enhance the body’s metabolic rate (i.e., burn more calories), which can promote a healthy body weight and lower the risk of developing metabolic diseases. How these effects happen in the body is currently unknown – but important to elucidate. After considering how these medium-chain fatty acids are digested and how and where they are metabolized in the body, I will investigate the new hypothesis that they act on the liver to release special factors that mediate the health benefits in the rest of the body. I want to first identify those factors and then verify that they actually drive these health beneficial effects in the body.

Panu Luukkonen

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects up to 1 in 4 people globally and predisposes to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and liver disease. The mechanisms underlying NAFLD remain unclear. Here, we study whether dysfunction of the cellular ‘energy motors’ – mitochondria – is a key mechanism underlying NAFLD in humans. To this end, we use state-of-the-art stable isotope methods to study hepatic mitochondrial function in individuals with and without NAFLD in response to modifiable risk factors and to currently available treatments. We also use large population-based cohorts to study whether genetic variants predispose individuals to hepatic mitochondrial dysfunction, and whether those individuals are also predisposed to NAFLD. Finally, we investigate in mice whether a pharmacological increase in mitochondrial function can ameliorate NAFLD. This project is expected to provide important new knowledge on the pathogenesis of NAFLD, which may help to develop new pharmacotherapies and to identify individuals who are at a particularly high risk of NAFLD.

Karolina Sulek

Imagine a life with disease, where you need to control your lifestyle at every step. Medication, namely insulin injections, glucose levels testing, and proper diet is a must for the everyday disease management. This is diabetes. Now add to this equation chronic pain in your legs and arms, possibility of amputation or even death. This is diabetic neuropathy. For unknown reasons to scientists, significant proportion of people struggling with blood glucose management develop this condition, where damaged nerves lead to chronic pain in their limbs. Steno Diabetes Centers provide support to people affected by diabetes. My project merges knowledge and skills from clinical and technological advancements in the pioneering sector to provide better diagnostics for patients affected by diabetic neuropathy. With this project I aim to personalize diabetic care using top-drawer modern technology within analytical chemistry and IT in search for novel biomarkers of neuropathy.

Stéphane Verger

Stéphane Verger says: “Fossil fuel based resources used for material production such as plastics, are not infinite. The world is inevitably switching back to bio-based material production. In this revolution wood and wood fibers are a major raw material that starts to substitute almost any plastic material. While renewable and biodegradable, in a number of applications, bio-based material properties do not match those of plastic polymers yet. Most importantly this revolution needs to be sustainable. Although it is a renewable resource, high rate forest harvesting and fiber extraction processes can cause environmental concerns. We need to find long term solutions that will ensure sustainable, high-yield and also high-quality of bio-based raw material production to replace fossil fuel in the future. The overarching goal of this project is to provide basic knowledge and proof of concept for the generation of trees with high-yield and high-quality fibers, providing new genetic tools for the future.”

Photo: Johan Gunséus