My name is Maria, and I am from the Venezuelan Andes. I studied chemistry first at Universidad de Los Andes (Mérida, Venezuela) and then at Ecole Normale Supérieure (Paris, France). I eventually made my way to structural biology, a subject that fascinated me since the first time I learned about photosynthesis in secondary school and wanted to know how living things work… in atomic detail. I am now in the second year of my PhD at the Institut de Biologie Structurale (IBS), working under the supervision of Dr. Martin Weik and Dr. Félix Weis between the DYNAMOP (Dynamics of Molecular Processes) and MEM (Methods and Electron Microscopy) groups.

Being exposed to sunlight can damage living organisms (as anyone who has experienced sunburn will tell you). Bacteria, which cannot use sunscreen, have other ways to protect themselves from light-induced damage. For example, they can produce carotenoids (small molecules that absorb light). My PhD project is to study a photoreceptor (protein capable of sensing light) called CarH. CarH regulates the production of carotenoids in bacteria in response to light. We would like to understand better how this protein works so we can modify it and use it in optogenetics (controlling the activity of cells using light). The main technique I use in my PhD project is time-resolved cryo-EM. The idea is to prepare samples for electron microscopy by illuminating a thin layer of protein in solution (to start the reaction) and then vitrifying it (cooling it down very quickly) after a well-defined, yet variable time delay after illumination (to stop the reaction). By doing this at different time delays, we hope to “capture” intermediate states in the reaction and reconstruct their 3D structure from microscopy images. 

Apart from working in laboratory spaces that look like photography darkrooms (CarH is very sensitive to light!), I like to go hiking in the mountains – and for this, I am very happy to be in Grenoble. I also like playing the violin and making things with my hands in general.