Virginijus Šikšnys

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V. Šikšnys

Virginijus Šikšnys (born January 26, 1956 in Šiauliai ) is a Lithuanian biochemist and professor at Vilnius University .

Life

Šikšnys studied organic chemistry at Vilnius University and graduated successfully in 1978. He then studied enzyme kinetics at Lomonosov Moscow State University until 1981 . In 1982, Šikšnys received his doctorate and worked from 1982 to 1993 at the Institute for Applied Enzymology in Vilnius . In 1993 he was a visiting scientist in the Prof. Robert Huber Laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry. He has been Chief Scientist and Head of the Protein - DNA Interactions Department at Vilnius University since 1995, Professor at Vilnius University since 2006 and member of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and since 2007 Chairman of the Council of the Institute of Biotechnology. In 2016 he received the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize and in 2018, together with Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, the Kavli Prize for Nanosciences. In 2019, Šikšnys was elected to the Academia Europaea .

Research and Teaching

Šikšnys is best known for his work on restriction endonucleases and CRISPR / Cas systems . He heads the Department of Protein - DNA Interactions at Vilnius University. Šikšnys is interested in the structure-function relationships of enzymes that are involved in nucleic acid metabolism.

For more than two decades, research in Šikšny's laboratory has focused on restriction endonucleases . Together with colleagues from Great Britain , Poland , Germany and other countries, Šikšnys carried out biochemical research on more than 20 restriction endonucleases and analyzed the tertiary structures of the restriction endonucleases of around a third . Šikšnys has been investigating the newly discovered bacterial CRISPR -Cas system since 2007 . He was among the first researchers to detect programmable DNA sections in Cas9 ribonucleoprotein. The new technology for genome editing at Cas9 has been licensed from DuPont . Šikšnys is the co-author of more than 90 scientific publications and has filed five patent applications.

literature

  • Martin Schlak: Mister Crispr , Der Spiegel, No. 43, October 19, 2019, pp. 104-107

Web links

Commons : Virginijus Šikšnys  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Šikšnys Virginijus . In: Lietuva, T. IV (Biografijos R-Ž, Papildymai A-Ž) [= Lithuanian, vol.IV Biographies R-Ž] ( Lithuanian ). Mokslo ir enciklopedijų Leidybos centras, Vilnius 2015, ISBN 978-5-420-01758-6 , p. 483.
  2. ↑ Šikšnys Virginijus . In: "Asmenybės. 1990–2015 m." Lietuvos pasiekimai ": apžvalgų ir biografijų rinkinys, T. II [= Personalities. 1990-2015. Reaching Lithuania: Studies and Biographies. 1990–2015.] ( Lithuanian ). Leidybos idėjų centras, Vilnius 2015, ISBN 978-609955784-7 , p. 1036.
  3. ↑ Chief Scientist and Head: Prof. Dr. Virginijus Šikšnys. In: ibt.lt. Retrieved January 26, 2016 .
  4. ^ Sarah Zhang: The Battle Over Genome Editing Gets Science All Wrong . wired.com. October 4, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  5. ↑ Eric S. Lander: The Heroes of CRISPR. In: Cell. 164, 2016, p. 18, doi : 10.1016 / j.cell.2015.12.041 .
  6. ↑ G. Gasiunas, R. Barrangou et al. a .: Cas9-crRNA ribonucleoprotein complex mediates specific DNA cleavage for adaptive immunity in bacteria. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109, 2012, p. E2579, doi : 10.1073 / pnas.1208507109 .
  7. ^ DuPont Pioneer Gains Exclusive License for Genome-Editing Technology from Vilnius University . June 23, 2015. Accessed January 19, 2015.
  8. ↑ Daniel Grushkin: DuPont CRISPR-Cas patent rural grave. In: Nature Biotechnology. 34, 2016, p. 13, doi : 10.1038 / nbt0116-13 .
personal data
SURNAME Šikšnys, Virginijus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lithuanian biochemist and professor at Vilnius University
DATE OF BIRTH January 26, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Lithuania