Meet Karin Schann

Karin Schann

In my PhD which is part of the EVOLF project, I aim to optimize the metabolism of a synthetic cell using targeted engineering and in vivo directed evolution.

I am Karin, biology enthusiast and since 2025 a PhD student in the lab of Bert Poolman at the University of Groningen.

Before starting my PhD, I worked on various research projects that aimed to engineer bacterial metabolism using synthetic biology tools, followed by evolution-based fine tuning. More specifically, I used growth-coupled design, that translates pathway activity into cellular growth to test and optimize one-carbon assimilation pathways in E. coli.

In my PhD which is part of the EVOLF project, I aim to optimize the metabolism of a synthetic cell using targeted engineering and in vivo directed evolution.

I find it amazing how evolution gives solutions we haven’t even thought of.