41. Sebastian Glatt - Rewriting RNA and the Future of Molecular Medicine

Sebastian Glatt (Professor, University of Veternary Medicine, Vienna and former Staff Scientist, EMBL Heidelberg, 2008-15) chats with Jaqueline Dreyer-Lamm (Head of Operations, Anavo Therapeutics BV and former Head of External Courses, EMBL Heidelberg, 2009-18).

Sebastian thinks back to his start at EMBL in 2008 as a postdoc and his involvement in the interdisciplinary postdoc program (EIPOD). Sebastian explains the program's evolution, noting the shift from fixed projects to candidate-driven projects and the inclusion of external groups. He highlights the program's success in producing many successful group leaders and professors across Europe.

A pivotal moment in his research was discovering tRNA biology, which significantly altered his focus. He aims to integrate fundamental research with patient impact, predicting advancements in molecular medicine due to improved diagnostics. He is excited about RNA modifications, which have been crucial for mRNA vaccines and could lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches without genome editing.

This conversation was recorded in March 2026.

Alumni Chat contributors are members of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) community. The opinions expressed are their own and are not necessarily representative of the views of EMBL or any other party. The mere appearance of content on EMBL Alumni media accounts does not constitute an endorsement by EMBL.

Production and Editing: EMBL Alumni Relations

Content and Interviews: Jacqueline Dreyer-Lamm

Music: Eco Technology by Aleksey Chistilin from Pixabay

Thanks to: EMBL Audiovisual and EMBL Design

Sponsored by: EMBLEM © European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)