We just received the Feasibility Fund grant to develop membrane protein nanoparticles based baculoviruses. The aim is to develop technology to improve and simplify the production and use of membrane proteins in biomedical studies, as this is one of the limiting steps in drug development. We produce membrane proteins is Sf9 insect cells, which can also be used to express membrane proteins on baculovirus nanoparticles. These stable particles can then be used in various bioassays to test if drugs are interacting with specific membrane proteins.
You can read more about it in here (in Estonian). We are proud to announce that Tõnis was chosen to attend the 74th meeting with Nobel laureates in Lindau, Germany, this summer. Scientists from different generations will gather from June 29 to July 4 for a meeting dedicated to chemistry. Central topics will include artificial intelligence in chemistry, sustainability, science diplomacy, and science communication. Additionally, Nobel laureates will share valuable insights from their careers and personal lives.
Tõnis focuses on the application of artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, and fluorescence-based measurements to study G protein-coupled receptors, which are targets for many drugs. His work improves the fundamental understanding of receptors and develops measurement methods suitable for finding new drugs and drug targets. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded in 2012 to Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka for their research on G protein-coupled receptors, and in 2024 to John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for their foundational research and inventions enabling machine learning based on artificial intelligence and neural networks. |