The activities of the Laboratory of Biochemistry at ESPCI Paris, directed by Prof. Andrew GRIFFITHS, are based around droplet-based microfluidics, a powerful new ultrahigh-throughput system in which reaction volumes can be miniaturized by up to a million-fold compared to conventional assays in microtitre plates. This opens up exciting prospects for the development of extremely innovative systems with many applications in the Life Sciences.
In this project, we want to investigate the emerging properties of chemical reaction networks compartmentalized in microfluidic droplets. We use the formose reaction, which autocatalytically forms sugars of different sizes from formaldehyde, as model of proto-metabolism. We observed that droplets containing efficient chemistry grow at the expense of others, in the same way that organisms would compete for food. This phenomenon spontaneously gives rise to the equivalent of biological fitness in a synthetic system. For the long run, we envision to demonstrate a rudimentary molecular evolution in a purely physico-chemistry system.
The post-doctorant will be in charge of: (i) characterization of chemical kinetics of formose reaction, using analytical chemistry techniques; (ii) building microfluidic devices and measuring the growth competition between droplets in these devices, using time-lapse microscopy and image analysis.
We are seeking a highly motivated Post-Doc, ideally with a strong experience in droplet-based microfluidics and chemistry. Flexibility, autonomy, the ability to work in a highly multidisciplinary team and good interpersonal skills are essential.
We offer an exciting and collaborative work environment at the forefront of biology, chemistry and physics research with top academic and industrial partners. We offer a competitive salary for a one-year contract (renewable).
Evolving from a municipal school established to train industrial production managers, it has achieved the status of a major institute of higher education in science and engineering, which recruits students via the most selective competitive examination in France.