Event Details

Frontiers of Science

8^th October at 12:00
Onsite event
in Presidentti auditorium, BioCity
Autumn 2026 poster

Prof. Markus Linder, Aalto University, Finland
The biological future of materials science

Host: Yagut Allahverdiyeva (allahve@utu.fi)

Coffee and sandwich served at 11:45, first come first serve!

Six PhD researchers and early-career postdocs are welcome to have a lunch and discuss with Prof. Linder after the seminar. This is a great possibility to learn hosting skills in a friendly environment and create connections for future. Everyone is welcome to join, BioCity Turku will offer the lunch.

If you got interested, please send an email to biocityturku@bioscience.fi

Prof. Linder’s research focuses on biosynthetic materials. Biological materials can possess unique properties, such as the toughness of silk proteins, the adhesion of barnacle cement, and the versatility of the extracellular matrix. His lab uses genetic engineering of proteins found in these materials to achieve similar properties in engineered systems. The engineered proteins are produced in microbes and subsequently assembled into materials. By engineering the proteins at the molecular level, the lab can influence how the assembly occurs and determine the final properties of the materials.

In the future, Prof. Linder and his lab envision that such materials could replace petrochemically produced materials, thereby contributing to a more sustainable society. Biosynthetic materials could also broaden the way materials are understood and utilized. For example, microbes themselves could be used as living materials, programmed to grow while simultaneously forming functional structures. These materials could take on different shapes, adapt to their surroundings, and even possess self-repairing properties.

Selected publications

Exploration of Chemical Diversity in Intercellular Quorum Sensing Signalling Systems in Prokaryotes. Jonkergouw C, Savola P, Osmekhina E, van Strien J, Batys P, Linder MB.Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2024 Jan 8;63(2):e202314469

Repurposing host-guest chemistry to sequester virulence and eradicate biofilms in multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii. Jonkergouw C, Beyeh NK, Osmekhina E, Leskinen K, Taimoory SM, Fedorov D, Anaya-Plaza E, Kostiainen MA, Trant JF, Ras RHA, Saavalainen P, Linder MB. Nat Commun. 2023 Apr 14;14(1):2141

Triblock Proteins with Weakly Dimerizing Terminal Blocks and an Intrinsically Disordered Region for Rational Design of Condensate Properties. Fedorov D, Roas-Escalona N, Tolmachev D, Harmat AL, Scacchi A, Sammalkorpi M, Aranko AS, Linder MB.Small. 2024 Mar;20(13):e2306817.

General information

• Registration is not needed, participation list is circulated in the audience.
• If you are a student and later wish to get a certificate of attendance from the Frontier of Science seminars (BKEM1020; UTU), print out the seminar diary and after the seminar ask the BioCity coordinator to sign it https://seafile.utu.fi/d/44a70f80ac1e46a9ad0a/
• Please note that any audio or video recording of the seminars is strictly forbidden.
• Autumn 2026 image credits to Samuel Svärd: Whole mount immunofluorescent staining of the mouse retina. Image acquired on 3i CSU-W1 Spinning disk with 10x objective.