Speaker Profile
Andreas Plueckthun

Andreas Plueckthun

Biotechnology
Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Connect with the speaker?

Andreas Plückthun (born 7. May 1956) studied chemistry at the University of Heidelberg and received his graduate education at the University of California at San Diego, where he obtained a Ph.D. in 1982 with Prof. Edward Dennis. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Chemistry Department of Harvard University (1982-85) where he worked with Prof. Jeremy Knowles. From 1985 until 1993, he was group leader at the Genzentrum and Max-Planck-Institut for Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany. He was appointed to the faculty of the University of Zurich as a Full Professor of Biochemistry in 1993.His research achievements include fundamental contributions enabling the emergence of antibody engineering, notably by the use of E. coli as an engineering platform, studies on synthetic antibodies which lead to the first fully synthetic antibody library, the development of ribosome display — a true in vitro protein evolution technology—, and the development of the Designed Ankyrin Repeat Protein (DARPin) technology. More recently his laboratory developed technologies for evolving stable G-protein coupled receptors for advancing their detailed study. His current research is centered on protein engineering, combining protein design, directed evolution and applications. While protein engineering is always in the center, his research is very interdisciplinary.
EVENTS & ACTIVITIES (Speaking, Spoken, and Authored)