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Maria Falkenberg is the fourth research leader at the University 91̽�� to be elected as a member of EMBO:

“It is always nice to have international colleagues appreciate our work, so of course I was very happy!”

EMBO wants to support talented researchers at all levels, stimulate the exchange of scientific information and help build optimal conditions for research. Through her membership of EMBO, Maria Falkenberg will be able to influence this work.

The cell's power plant 

Maria Falkenberg's group conducts basic research of the genome, i.e. DNA. Most of the genome is inside the cell nucleus within the chromosomes, but there is also a small amount of additional genetic material outside the chromosomes within the cell’s power plant, the so-called mitochondria. 

“We study how the genome is copied in the mitochondria and how this is linked to mutations, i.e. when something goes wrong during copying so that diseases occur. It is simply a matter of understanding how and why the mutations occur and whether they can be avoided,” says Maria Falkenberg.

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Treatment in development 

Her research team is currently developing a treatment for certain mitochondrial diseases. It is a collaborative project with a US-Swedish biotech company, and it has been ongoing for several years.

“It is fascinating to see how an idea from a basic science laboratory develops into a possible treatment. Although we are not there yet, we have made great progress, and I have now started to present our data at various scientific conferences,” says Maria Falkenberg.

The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is celebrating 60 years as a scientific organization this year. Three research leaders at the University 91̽�� have already been elected as members of EMBO, all from the Institute of Biomedicine: Claes Gustafsson, Thomas Nyström and Ruth Palmer. The total number of elected members of EMBO is 1800. 

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