Welcome to the Maerkl lab

We conduct research at the interface of engineering and biology, with contributions spanning synthetic biology, systems biology, and molecular diagnostics. Our current focus is on cell-free synthetic biology, particularly the bottom-up construction of synthetic cells. At the heart of our work is the ambition to rationally design and engineer biological systems. Despite more than a century of biochemical and biological discovery, de novo engineering of complex biochemical systems remains a formidable challenge. To address this, we pursue an integrative approach that combines synthetic biology, biochemistry, advanced microfluidics, and computational modeling.