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Image: Irene Böttcher-Gajewski | Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences

Professor Dr

Marina V. Rodnina

Year of election: 2008
Section: Biochemistry and Biophysics
City: Göttingen
Country: Germany
CV Marina V. Rodnina - English (PDF)
CV Marina V. Rodnina - German (PDF)

Research

Research Priorities: quantitative biochemistry, RNA-protein interaction, ribosome function and dynamics, quality control in protein biosynthesis, fast kinetics, enzyme catalysis, function of antibiotics, translation process, mechanisms of GTPases in translation, biophysical methods, protein biosynthesis, fluorescence measurements

Marina Rodnina is a biochemist and expert on large protein complexes. She has developed new methodological approaches for studying ribosome functions and further elucidated its mode of operation in protein biosynthesis.

Ribosomes are the power plants of cells. During protein biosynthesis in the cell, they translate the genetic hereditary information into a chain of amino acids, which then folds into a protein. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of amino acids have to be put in the correct order in this translation process. A single error in the chain can cause the protein to malfunction. With one of her major discoveries, Marina Rodnina has elucidated a complex selection mechanism that ribosomes use to keep the error rate in translation low.

The effort for these investigations is enormous because ribosomes are tiny. The researchers led by Marina Rodnina employ biophysical methods such as fluorescence measurements and fast kinetics. The working group is a global leader in developing and applying these complex methods. With the help of a 3D cryo-electron microscope, they could also show a ribosome in action for the first time. For the film sequence, ribosomes in a solution were excited and then shock-frozen at different stages. An electron microscope was thus able to take pictures of different phases of protein biosynthesis.

With her research, Marina Rodnina has significantly expanded the knowledge about translational processes. These findings help clarify the causes of diseases and provide the basis for developing new drugs.

Career

  • 2020-2022 Managing Director, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences (until January 2022: Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry), Göttingen, Germany
  • since 2008 Director, Principal Investigator, Department of Physical Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
  • 2000-2008 Chair of Physical Biochemistry, Institute of Physical Biochemistry, Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H), Witten, Germany
  • 1998-2000 Professor, Institute of Molecular Biology, UW/H, Witten, Germany
  • 1997 Habilitation in Biochemistry, UW/H, Witten, Germany
  • 1992-1997 Research Assistant, UW/H, Witten, Germany
  • 1990-1992 Research Fellow (UW/H, Witten, Germany), Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Germany
  • 1989 PhD in Molecular Biology, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Ukraininan Academy of Sciences , Kiev, Ukraine
  • 1982-1990 Research Associate, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kiev, Ukraine
  • 1977-1982 Degree in biology with specialization in molecular biology and genetics, Taras Shevchenko National University Kiev, Kiev, Ukraine

Functions

  • currently Member, 17 Thesis Advisory Committees, GGNB, and Mentor, Dorothea Schlözer Mentoring Programme, University of Göttingen, Goettingen, Germany
  • since 2022 Member, ERC Consolidator Grants Panel, European Commission (EC)
  • since 2022 Scientific Advisor Board, Institute of Molecular Biology gGmbH (IMB), Mainz, Germany
  • since 2021 Scientific Advisory Board, Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence, Ministry of Education and Science, Poland, and Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany
  • since 2020 Board of Trustees, Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds, Mainz, Germany
  • since 2019 Scientific Advisory Board, Regensburg Center for Biochemistry, Regensburg, Germany
  • 2018 Member, Review Committee, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
  • 2016, 2018 Reviewer, Future Emerging Technologies (FET)-Open Programme, EC
  • since 2016 Reviewer, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships Programme, EC
  • since 2016 International Advisory Board, Research Programme “Building a Synthetic Cell (BaSyC)”, Netherlands
  • since 2015 Scientific Advisory Board, Biochemistry Center (BZH), University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
  • 2015-2021 Member, Collaborative Research Centers Committee, Senate, German Research Foundation (DFG)
  • 2015, 2018 Member, Review Committee, Laboratory of Biochemistry, Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France
  • since 2014 Chair, Minerva Weizmann Committee, Minerva-Weizmann Programme, Minerva Stiftung, Munich, Germany
  • 2012-2015 Member, ERC Consolidator Grants Panel, EC
  • since 2012 Dean, International Max Planck Graduate School for Molecular Biology, Goettingen, Germany
  • since 2012 Member and Vice Chair, Doctoral Networks Grant Review Panel, EC
  • 2010-2018 Speaker, Doctoral Program “Biomolecules: Structure-Function-Dynamics” and Member, Managing Board, Goettingen Graduate School for Neurosciences and Molecular Biosciences (GGNB), University of Göttingen, Goettingen, Germany
  • 2008-2015 Elected Member, Study Section 201 “Biochemistry, Biophysics, Structural Biology, Bioinformatics and Theoretical Biology”, Review Board “Basic Research in Biology and Medicine“, DFG, Germany
  • 2008-2012 Member, Selection Committee for the PhD fellowships, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Germany
  • 2007-2009 Elected Director, The RNA Society, McLean, USA
  • Editorial Boards: RNA, Biochemistry, Protein Science, Scientific Reports

Projects

  • since 2020 Project “The function of mRNA modifications in regulation of translation”, Priority Programme (SPP) 1784, German Research Foundation (DFG), Germany
  • since 2019 Project “Role of Shiftless in HIV infection: Antiviral mechanism and contribution to innate immune responses”, SPP 1923, DFG, Germany
  • since 2019 “Multiscale Bioimaging: from Molecular Machines to Networks of Excitable Cells”, Cluster of Excellence (EXC) 2067, DFG, Germany
  • since 2016 Project “Co-translational protein insertion into the bacterial plasma membrane”, Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 1190, DFG, Germany
  • since 2010 Project “Ribosome dynamics in translation”, SFB 860, DFG, Germany

Honours and Memberships

  • since 2022 Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences, USA
  • since 2020 Elected Member, Academia Europaea
  • 2021 Albrecht Kossel Prize, German Chemical Society (GDCh), Germany
  • 2019 Otto Warburg Medal, Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (GBM), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
  • 2018 Advanced Grant, European Research Council (ERC)
  • since 2017 Member, Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Göttingen, Germany
  • 2016 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, DFG, Germany
  • 2015 Hans Neurath Award, Protein Society, Canyon Country, USA
  • since 2015 Member, Protein Society, Canyon Country, USA
  • since 2008 Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Germany
  • since 2004 Member, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), Heidelberg, Germany

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