My current research project focuses on structure determination of a variety of odorant receptors from different mosquito species. Elucidating the details of mosquito olfaction at a molecular level will help in understanding the way important disease vectors such as Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae target their prey. The goal is to better understand the structure-function relationships in these membrane protein complexes which give insects the ability to sense compounds important for host, mate and habitat selection. Cryo-EM will be the main tool for structure determination, and within the project I utilize my expertise spanning from molecular cloning, heterologous protein expression in Pichia pastoris, protein purification as well as structural biology.
The project is part of the Max Planck Center next generation insect chemical ecology (nGICE) https://www.ngice.mpg.de/15579/Project-19.
PhD from SLU in Uppsala, Sweden.
MSc in Biotechnology from University of Helsinki, Finland.
BSc in Biochemistry from University of Oulu, Finland.