Professor Berndt Muller

Professor Berndt Muller
Professor Berndt Muller
Professor Berndt Muller

Personal Chair

Accepting PhDs

About
Email Address
b.mueller@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number
+44 (0)1224 437536
Office Address

Berndt Müller PhD

Institute of Medical Sciences (Room 4:35)

University of Aberdeen Foresterhill

Aberdeen AB25 2ZD Scotland, UK

 

School/Department
School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition

Biography

1978-1988:  Berndt graduated with a Diploma in Natural Sciences (Biology) from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich. He then joined the group of Professor Theodor Koller at the Institute for Cell Biology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology for postgraduate studies.  The degree of Dr. sc. nat. (PhD) was awarded for work on the DNA recombination protein RecA executed under the supervision of Professor Koller and Dr Andrzej Stasiak, and with Dr Elisabeth Di Capua.

1988-1993: Postdoctoral Researcher in the group of Dr Stephen West at the ICRF (now CRUK) Clare Hall Laboratories investigating DNA recombination enzymes. 

1993-1999: Junior group leader in the Laboratory for Developmental Biology at the Institute for Cell Biology of Bern University led by Professor Daniel Schümperli, investigating the control of animal histone gene expression brought about by RNA 3' end formation.  

since 1999:  Senior Lecturer, Reader and Professor at the University of Aberdeen leading work on RNA processing.  We have developed a strong research program that focuses on understanding the molecular machinery involved in mRNA 5' end formation by spliced leader trans-splicing.  Visit The Aberdeen Worm Laboratory site for more information.

Qualifications

  • Privatdozent Molecular Cell Biology 
    1999 - University of Bern 
  • PhD Cell Biology 
    1988 - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich 
  • Diploma Natural Sciences 
    1983 - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich 

External Memberships

Member of the Biochemical Society

Member of the Genetics Society

Member of the RNA Society

Research

Research Overview

The lab has a long-standing interest in the control of gene expression at the level of mRNA.  This started in 1993, when Berndt joined the University of Bern where he worked with Prof Daniel Schümperli. 

Prior to that he did his PhD in the group of Prof Theo Koller at the Institute of Cell Biology of the ETH in Zürich, with Dr Andrzej Stasiak and Dr Elisabeth Di Capua, analysing the interaction of the recombination protein RecA protein with DNA.  He then spent 5 years in the lab of Dr Stephen West at ICRF (now Cancer Research UK) studying the Biochemistry of Genetic Recombination.

Subsequently, at Bern University, he identified factors that turn histone pre-mRNAs into mRNA by a unique 3' end formation process.  This work was continued at the University of Aberdeen and has led to insight into the molecular function of these factors.

At Aberdeen, he also linked the key translation factor eIF4E to autism, and explored how RNA stability is implicated in the aetiology of neurodevelopmental disorders.  

More recently he has focused on understanding the molecular mechanism of spliced leader trans-splicing in gene expression in nematodes. Have a look at https://www.aberdeenwormlab.org/ for latest news.

 

 

Research Areas

Accepting PhDs

I am currently accepting PhDs in Biomedical Sciences.


Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.

Email Me

Biomedical Sciences

Supervising
Accepting PhDs

Research Specialisms

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Genetic Engineering

Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

Current Research

The current research focuses on understanding the mechanism of spliced leader trans-splicing in gene expression in nematodes. This is an unusual RNA splicing reaction, dependent on a set of specialised RNAs and proteins. The function of these molecules is being investigated  using genome engineering, RNAseq, proteomics and high resolution microscopy combined with biochemistry and molecular biology.

For more information visit The Aberdeen Worm Lab.

 

Teaching

Teaching Responsibilities

Biochemistry Pogramme Coordinator

Course co-ordination of BC3503 (The Molecular Control of Cell Function) and BC4314 (Honours Biochemistry Option 2) 

 

Publications

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Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings

Contributions to Journals

Patents