Professor Dr. Lucas Farnung

Biography

Lucas Farnung completed his doctoral thesis at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Germany. He has since worked as a postdoctoral fellow and project leader at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, focusing on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of chromatin and transcription. In 2025, he was named an HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar. His research in the Farnung Lab investigates key mechanistic questions at the intersection of DNA replication, chromatin, and transcription. The lab employs biochemical, biophysical, AI, and structural biology approaches to study transcription and replication machineries, histone modifying enzymes, chromatin remodelers, and chromatin interactions that establish and retain epigenomic information for gene expression and genome duplication. These efforts aim to facilitate a molecular understanding of chromatin's role in DNA replication and transcription, with direct mechanistic implications for understanding cell differentiation and disease.

Research Interests

Experience