Centre for Synthetic Biology honours PhD thesis by Jan Bogen

In his dissertation, Dr. Jan Bogen developed a variety of new methods for the generation, screening and engineering of tumour-specific antibodies. These included a novel method for the construction of immune libraries based on bidirectional vector systems, an approach for the rapid and effective humanisation of therapeutic drug candidates and for the generation of biparatopic antibodies. The molecules isolated in this work were adapted and optimised so that they could be combined into a trispecific, multifunctional antibody. This was able to prevent both the growth of cancer cells and their masking from the immune system, and at the same time mediated the attack of immune cells on the tumour cells. This molecule is thus unique in its mode of action and paves the way for new therapeutic approaches in the future.

The Centre for Synthetic Biology at TU Darmstadt awarded its outstanding thesis in the field of synthetic biology.