Q1Search kinetics
How does a protein find one gene among twenty thousand?
Zinc fingers scan DNA by sliding and hopping. We time each step with single-molecule imaging and model the search.
02 — Scale
From one base pair to one plate
Cryo-electron tomography
300 kV · 1.2 Å/px
FOV
01 / 05 · 10 nm
Where the protein lands
Our zinc fingers read eighteen letters of DNA. That is enough to find a single address in a genome of three billion.
01 — In one paragraph
Structural biologyProtein designGene regulation02 — Open questions
Three things we still can’t explain
Each question is a project, a grant and at least one argument at lab meeting. We publish what we find, including when the answer is no.
Q2Gene activation
Can we switch a gene on without cutting DNA?
Our activators recruit the cell’s own machinery. No breaks, no scars, and the edit fades when the protein does.
Q3Tissue context
Why do identical edits behave differently in tissue?
The same switch works in one cell and stalls in its neighbour. We map chromatin state across whole organoids to find out why.
05 — Selected work
Six projects, one question each
Drag or scroll sideways. Each slide is a project page with the methods, the people and the data behind it.
All researchOR-212026 · Ongoing
Imaging organoids in three colours
A light-sheet pipeline that images whole organoids every twenty minutes without bleaching them.
Imaging1,280
KS-042026 · Ongoing
Proteins with a built-in clock
Designs that the cell clears on a schedule, so an experiment can have a defined start and end.
Protein design5 days
ZF-172025 · Published
Reading eighteen letters of DNA
A designed protein that recognises one eighteen-letter stretch of DNA, and the measurements that show how tightly it holds.
Protein design4 nM
HT-122025 · Method
A thousand designs a week on one bench
An open, low-cost screening pipeline that lets one person characterise a thousand protein designs in a week.
Automation1,152
EM-092024 · Published
A cryo-EM atlas of proteins on nucleosomes
Fourteen structures showing how designed proteins meet packaged DNA, and why the angle of approach matters.
Structural biology2.9 Å
SM-032023 · Published
Timing a protein’s search along DNA
Tracking single molecules as they slide and hop along DNA, and a two-number model that predicts how long the search takes.
Biophysics38 s
05 — Figure 1
What the data actually look like
Hover the plot to read values. Every panel is redrawn from the numbers in our papers, not a screenshot.
Hover to read values
07 — By the numbers
Ten years, counted honestly
0citations since 2016
0papers, 11 as senior author
0structures in the PDB
€0.0Min active grants
Citations per year, 2015–2026
08 — Publications
What we have published lately
Eight recent papers. Every one links to the journal and, where we have it, the raw data.
All publications2026
Low-dose light-sheet imaging of three-dimensional cultures
Ferreira A., Weber J., Maraval I.
Journal of Cell Science
Preprint
Preprint
9cited
2025
Designed zinc-finger proteins that read an eighteen-base site
Okafor R., Lindqvist S., Maraval I.
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
Article
Article
142cited
2025
Open hardware for high-throughput protein screens
Weber J., Nair P., Maraval I.
Nucleic Acids Research
Methods
Methods
61cited
2024
A structural atlas of designed proteins bound to nucleosomes
Okafor R., Brandt T., Maraval I.
Cell
Article
Article
318cited
10 — The lab
Eleven people, one microscope queue
A group of physicists, chemists and biologists who all had to learn each other’s vocabulary.
Meet the lab
Group leader · Since 2019
Ilse Maraval
Structural biology and protein design. Trained as a physicist.
Postdoc · Since 2022
Rana Okafor
Cryo-EM of designed proteins on packaged DNA.
Postdoc · Since 2021
Sten Lindqvist
Computational design and molecular dynamics.
PhD student · Since 2023
Mei Tanaka
Single-molecule tracking in living cells.
10 — Path
Read from 5′ to 3′
The short version of a long CV. The full PDF has every grant, student and committee.
2024
Associate Professor, Kessrow Institute
Group leader since 2019, tenured in 2024.
Structural biology · 11 people2019
Group leader, Kessrow Institute
Started the lab with one microscope and two students.
ERC Starting Grant2015
Postdoc, Laboratory of Molecular Structure
First zinc-finger activator solved on DNA by cryo-EM.
EMBO Fellowship2014
PhD in Biochemistry
How transcription factors find their sites, measured one molecule at a time.
Thesis prize2009
MSc Physics
Moved from optics to biology by way of a microscope I built.
With distinction12 — Talks
Where to hear this in person
Three talks coming up and a list of the last few. Slides on request, always.
All talks12 Mar2026
What a failed screen is worth
Gordon Research Conference
Ventura
UpcomingVentura
12 Mar2026
Reading DNA with designed proteins
EMBO Workshop on Chromatin
Heidelberg
UpcomingHeidelberg
12 Mar2026
Seeing molecules: an evening for schools
Kessrow Institute Open Night
Leiden
UpcomingLeiden
12 Mar2026
Fourteen structures and what they changed
Annual Structural Biology Meeting
Basel
PlenaryBasel
13 — Journal
Notes from the bench
Short posts about method, failure and how we run the lab.
All postsWhat a failed screen taught us about packaged DNA
Nine hundred designs did nothing. The pattern in which ones did nothing turned out to be the most useful result of the year.
How we choose what to work on
Three questions we ask before a project starts, and the one we ask six months in.
A microscope you can book on day one
Why every new person gets instrument time in their first week, before they know what they are doing.
13 — Work with us
Bring us a question worth a microscope
Collaborate
You have a system, we have the structures. Most of our papers start with an email like yours.
Propose a project
Join the lab
PhD and postdoc places open twice a year. Read how we work, then tell us what you want to learn.
See open positions
Invite a talk
Seminars, keynotes and school visits. I say yes to one outreach event a month.
Speaking and press