HYBRID: DNA-based super-resolution microscopy – from biophysical principles to in situ structural biology

This lecture will be held in presence in the Anna-von-Helmholtz-Bau of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Berlin-Charlottenburg and can be followed online at the same time. Please use the links above to register your personal participation or to receive the access data for online participation.

Topic:

Super-resolution microscopy has become an essential tool for studying cellular organization at the molecular scale. Among these approaches, DNA-PAINT enables single-protein imaging, multiplexing, and molecular counting through programmable DNA binding. In this talk, I will introduce the core principles of DNA-PAINT and highlight recent technical advances. I will then focus on how these developments allow us to probe the molecular organization of the genome, providing new insights into how genome architecture regulates gene expression in health and disease.

CV:

Johannes Stein studied physics at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and completed a master’s degree at University College London, including an exchange in Madrid. He then carried out his PhD at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Munich from 2017 to 2020, where he advanced DNA-PAINT super-resolution microscopy. After a postdoctoral stay there, he moved to Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute, working on quantitative single-molecule imaging in cells and tissues. Since October 2025, he has been an Emmy Noether Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, focusing on molecular imaging of nuclear processes.

Following the lecture, there will be a get-together where participants can exchange ideas with each other over pizza and drinks.

The event is sponsored by the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation.