Humboldt-University Berlin - Bioorganic Synthesis - Oliver Seitz Group

Key figures 

Our main interest pertains to the biopolymers including nucleic acids, proteins and glycoconjugates. We develop new approaches for the chemical synthesis of proteins and nucleic acids, as well as their hybrids. It is our aim to improve upon the repertoire of biomolecular tools for the interrogation of biological processes.

Read/detect nucleic acid sequences

To understand the function of RNA and RNA-regulated processes we use a new class of probe molecules, so called FIT-probes binding specifically to target mRNA in living cells and report hybridization by fluorescence enhancement.

DNA/RNA-directed reactions

Ligation reactions that proceed under the control of a DNA-like template illustrate how chemical reactivities can be controlled by Watson-Crick base-pairing.

DNA/RNA-programmed protein interference

DNA or RNA can be used as templates fort the arrangement of chemical groups and functional units on structures in nanometer scale and with Ångstrom precision.

Nucleic acid and protein chemistry

It is one of the foremost challenges in the "post genome era" to unravel the function of newly discovered protein molecules. We believe that a true understanding of protein function can only be obtained at the molecular level.