Dr. John Briggs
Group Leader and Senior Scientist
Viruses and vesicles – cryo-electron microscopy and tomogr
EMBLEM Technology
Greece
Biography
Biography PhD 2004, Oxford University. Postdoctoral research at the University of Munich. Group Leader at EMBL since 2006. Senior Scientist since 2013. Group leader in the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit. ERC Investigator.
Research Interest
Previous and current research We study the structure and the molecular assembly mechanisms of important, pathogenic, enveloped viruses (e.g. HIV and Influenza virus), and of cellular trafficking vesicles (e.g. clathrin and COPI coated vesicles). Viruses and vesicles are extraordinary self-assembling machines – the protein building blocks interact with one another to bring all the components or cargo together, to reshape the lipid bilayer, and to release a free virus or vesicle. The building blocks will often then undergo an intricate reassembly to prepare for fusion with a target cell or membrane. The level of understanding we aim to achieve could be imagined as a 3D, functionally annotated movie, with molecular resolution, showing the assembly and budding process.
