The goal of Friedrich Frischknecht's project is to identify protein structures that the unicellular malaria pathogens require for their extremely effective locomotion in their human host and to describe their precise function.
BMBF / Yves Sucksdorff
The project goal is to identify protein structures that the unicellular malaria pathogens require for their extremely effective locomotion in their human host and to describe their precise function. "If we understand these processes, we may be able to produce molecules that block the parasites' locomotion," says Friedrich Frischknecht.
BMBF / Yves Sucksdorff
We are investigating malaria pathogens transmitted by mosquitoes. These are spat into our skin when the mosquito bites. There, the small parasites move very quickly through the subcutaneous tissue in search of a thin blood vessel (capillary). After entering the blood vessel, they are transported in the bloodstream and specifically infect cells in the liver. In our ERC project, the goal was to better understand the movement of the parasites. Our focus was on a functional understanding of proteins on the surface of the parasites.
BMBF / Yves Sucksdorff
Open and joyful discussions with interested colleagues and collaborators. Here in the picture are Mirko Singer, PhD student in my research group, and Dr. Stefan Hillmer, head of the Central Facility for Electron Microscopy, in a discussion about an experiment that might be too complicated after all, re-enacted for the photographer.
