Erik Benson

Erik Benson

Assistant Professor
Visiting address: Solnavägen 9, Biomedicum, 17165 Solna
Postal address: C1 Mikrobiologi, tumör- och cellbiologi, C1 M P Henriques/Normark Benson, 171 77 Stockholm
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About me

  • Recently started a research group, based at Scilifelab and affiliated to MTC at Karolinska Institutet.

    We want to draw inspiration from biology and combine DNA and RNA design with evolution to select the sequences that perform best from large initial pools of candidate structures. We are interested in performing selection both computationally by high throughput simulation, and experimentally through in vitro selection experiments. We want to use these methods to produce stronger binders for proteins and viruses, and to better understand how DNA and RNA interact with cells.

    Please visit our lab website for more information.

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • European innovation council (EIC)
    1 March 2025 - 28 February 2030
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2026
    DNA nanostructures are uniquely powerful scaffolds for organizing functional molecules at the nanoscale. This has been used to pattern multiple weak binders to achieve drastically stronger net affinity through avidity. Current techniques allow for programming the patterning through the strand composition in individual assembly reactions limiting most studies to fewer than ten patterns. I propose developing a new type of DNA nanostructures “Fragmers” that are constructed by ligating small DNA structural fragments in a single-pot library preparation. A unique feature of the fragmer system is that the 3D structure is determined by a contiguous genome formed by the ligated fragments, and this genome can be read out at scale using high-throughput sequencing, followed by structural reconstruction using DNA simulation techniques. The fragmer system will allow for simultaneous screening of large libraries of DNA nanostructures displaying aptamers for proteins or virus particles, where the shape of the binding structures can be recovered through sequencing. Fragmers could complement or replace antibodies and would benefit from simple synthesis and facile addition of functional elements.This grant would enable me to establish as an independent investigator and develop the experimental and computational tools for the fragmer system and the first proof-of-concept development of high avidity binders to proteins and virus particles using established and new aptamers.

Employments

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, 2024-2029
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Royal Institute of Technology, 2022-2023
  • Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, 2019-2021

Degrees and Education

  • Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, 2018

Visiting research fellowships

  • Long term visitor, University of Oxford, 2022-2024

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