Sebastian Haiss

Sebastian Haiss

Sebastian Haiss

Student / Programme Doctorate at D-USYS

ETH Zürich

Professur für Umweltmikrobiologie

CHN G 16

Universitätstrasse 16

8092 Zürich

Switzerland

Additional information

Research area

Methanogenic archaea are the source of ~70 % of global methane emissions and thus play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle. It was recently discovered that the methanogenic archaea Methanosarcina have pervasive tandem repeats in their genomes. These DNA regions evolve rapidly, just like CRISPR loci, yet the functions of them are not yet known. It is hypothesised that they play a role in regulation, rapid adaptation, impacting cell architecture, and ultimately metabolism.

My PhD project aims to elucidate what the function of these DNA tandem repeats is through bioinformatics and molecular biology approaches.