Opening for Masters students in the Gönczy Laboratory in 2025!
The project is to be chosen amongst the ones listed below. Each project is conducted ideally during 2 semesters, but can be adapted to last only 1 if need be.
Contact Pierre Gönczy ([email protected]) to find out more!
1. Engineering a modified centriole duplication cycle in human cells
Keywords: molecular biology, cell biology, centriole, microscopy
Objective: engineer and analyze centriole duplication cycle with altered organelle number control.
Approaches: molecular and cell biology, expansion microscopy, super-resolution microscopy, live imaging.
Ideal for students in: Life Sciences, Bioengineering.
Wet
2. Analyzing novel centriolar proteins in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Keywords: cell biology, centriole, CRISPR/Cas9, microscopy
Objective: identify localization and test function of novel centriolar proteins in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
Approaches: CRISPR/Cas9-mediated GFP tagging, as well as disruption, of novel centriolar proteins in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, expansion microscopy, super-resolution microscopy.
Ideal for students in: Life Sciences, Bioengineering.
Wet
3. Investigate mechanisms of centriole elimination using C. elegans
Keywords: C. elegans, centriole, organelle removal
Objective: discover mechanisms regulating centriole half-life during C. elegans oogenesis and embryogenesis.
Approaches: RNAi-based functional genomic screen, live imaging, image analysis, molecular biology, cell biology.
Ideal for students in: Life Sciences, Bioengineering.
Wet
4. Analyzing centriole fate during zebrafish muscle formation
Keywords: myogenesis, zebrafish, centriole, live imaging
Objective: monitor centrosome and centriole fate during muscle formation in zebrafish embryos.
Approaches: 4D live imaging using light-sheet microscopy, injection of RNA/DNA into zebrafish embryos, develop and apply tracking algorithms to monitor centrosomes and centrioles.
Ideal for students in: Life Sciences, Bioengineering.
Dry and Wet
5. Single cell RNA-seq of centriole biogenesis in Naegleria
Keywords: Naegleria gruberi, centriole, de novo biogenesis
Objective: discover and characterize components induced during de novo centriole biogenesis in the protist Naegleria gruberi
Approaches: RNA-seq, cell biology, immunofluorescence, expansion microscopy, live imaging.
Ideal for students in: Life Sciences, Bioengineering.
Wet + Dry
6. Evolutionary diversity and origin of centriolar proteins
Keywords: AlphaFold, Foldseek, phylogenomics, centriole
Objective: identify homologues of fundamental centriolar proteins across the domains of life and thus help trace the origin of the centriole organelle; test candidates in cell free assays.
Approaches: computational biology, structural prediction, cell biology
Ideal for students in: Computer Sciences, Life Sciences
Collaboration between the Bitbol and Gönczy laboratories
Dry + Wet