Advisors

Prof. Jacek Bielecki

Education:
MSc, University of Warsaw, 1975
PhD, University of Warsaw, 1981
Associated professor, Warsaw University, 1995
Professor at University of Warsaw, 1996
Vice Dean of Faculty of Biology, 1996 - 1999, and 1999-2002

Scholarships:

• Germany , 1984, University of Tuebingen, 10 months
• Germany, 1985, Max Planck Institute, 8 months
• USA, 1989, University of Pennsylvania post doc, 2,5 years
• USA, 1993, University of Pennsylvania, visiting prof., 3 months
• USA, 1999, University of California, Berkeley, visiting prof., 2 months

Research interests:
Molecular mechanisms of virulence of bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, especially the role of a hemolysin, listeriolysin O (LLO). LLO is a 58 kDa sulphydryl-activated, pore-forming cytotoxin which allows L. monocytogenes to escape from the phagocytic vesicle in macrophage and causes actin cytoskeleton reorganization in infected cells. LLO- mutants are much less virulent and do not survive in macrophages.

Radosław Stachowiak

My adventure with biology and biotechnology dates back to 1995 when I became a biotechnology student at University of Warsaw. In the year 2000 I completed my MSc thesis and I guess I couldn’t stop there so I immidiately started PhD studies. Now I’m done with studying and my job is to take care of students and introduce them into science. Still, I like being involved in crazy projects so characteristic of Sudents’ Societies. The more crazy and incredible project the better. I guess this is the case so here I am!

Team members

Michał Krzysztoń

I study Biotechnology at University of Warsaw (Laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology). My research interests focus on epigenetics – my B.Sc. thesis was about the role of small RNA molecules in establishing chromatin states. Now I'm working on my M. Sc. thesis - simple genetic device to detect small RNAs in Arabidopsis' organs. As most members of our team I help to run Students' Society of Genetics and Epigenetics. I don't have much free time but I like to read sf stories and listen to lots of music.

Piotr Przanowski

I study Biotechnology at University of Warsaw, Faculty of Biology. In my B.Sc. thesis, done in Department of Microbial Genetics, I studied glycosylation of DsbI protein in Campylobacter jejuni and currently I'm working on these proteins in Helicobacter pylori. I keep my own live marsh, fish, amphibians and a rat. I'm also interested in natural history and often participate in field courses. I have two sisters - Magda and Ewa - who contributed a few drawings for our iGEM project.

Michał Lower

I come from Warsaw, our capital city :-). I study Biotechnology at University of Warsaw. My M. Sc. thesis in Department of Virology was about new method of rapid determination of type III DNA methyltransferase recognition sequences. Apart from molecular biology I'm passionated with computer programming.

Ewa Szczęsna

I come from Augustów, beautiful town in north-eastern Poland. I study Biotechnology at University of Warsaw and Pharmacy at Medical University of Warsaw. My B. Sc. thesis was about Hepatitis B virus. Now I'm preparing my M. Sc. thesis in Department of Virology and I work on prophages in the genome of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. I'm very interested in molecular biology. Apart from that I love drawing and computer graphic.

Marcin Piechocki

I come from Łuków, 40.000-town in Eastern Poland. I study Biotechnology at University of Warsaw . My B. Sc. thesis dealt with NgoAXP, type III restriction-modification system in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Now I'm preparing my M. Sc. thesis in Department of Virology and I work on prophages in the genome of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. I'm interested in microbiology and evolutionism. In my leisure time I love studying about prehistoric life and listen to music, especially klezmer.

Antoni Małagocki

I study Biotechnology at University of Warsaw, Faculty of Biology. I'm working in Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology on mitochondrial helicase and its interaction hSUV3p with ribosomal protein MRPL12. My B.Sc. thesis realized in Department of Embryology concerned maturation of murine oocytes. In my free time I play football, do trekking and read books.

Weronika Prusisz

I study Biotechnology at University of Warsaw. My M. Sc. thesis in Department of Molecular Biology will be connected with apoptosis. Apart from that music and books are my essentials.

Emilia Jarochowska

I study Biology and Geology at College of Inter-faculty Individual Studies in Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Warsaw. My B.Sc. thesis dealt with transport inhibition in bundle sheaths of several C4 grass species by callose accumulation. Currently I'm preparing M.Sc. thesis on gene expression profiles in maize under chilling stress and in the meantime I'm trying to help in the wet and web parts of our iGEM project.

Paweł Krawczyk

I come from small village in the south of Poland but now I’m a student of biotechnology and psychology at the College of Interfaculty Individual Studies in Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Warsaw. Scientifically I’m freak on any fluorescent methods connected with protein research. This year I’ve defended my B. Sc. thesis which was about regulation of the Hsp90 molecular chaperone protein. During my M. Sc. studies I will work on the molecular basis of schizophrenia (it doesn’t mean I live in a world of hallucinations). In my free time I love to play football and volleyball and listen to music, especially blues and rock.

There's one more thing we have to confess... most of us are tenacious activists of students' scientific associations at our Faculty. One of them is Students' Society of Genetics and Epigenetics, founded in 2003. It has developed a noble tradition of weekly seminars (spoken by first-year students as well as by guests from abroad), conferences in the Faculty's field station in the lake region of Mazury, and, above all, scientific projects planned and realized by students with just as much help as necessary from their older colleagues. We have accomplished Pfu polymerase production and purification, we studied to what extent ethidium bromide is able to diffuse through laboratory gloves and we're still working on development of efficient oligo-DNA microarray stripping method.

The other is Students' Society of Microbiology. I also hosts weekly seminars and organizes visits in biotechnological and microbiological laboratories. Last year we studied active center of Vsr andonuclease by substituting particular aminoacids with alanine and evaluating how the substitution influences enzyme's activity.