Oscar Kuipers

An important topic of research is the study of the genetics and physiology of bacteria. Among others, the cellular differentiation of bacteria is investigated. Bacteria growing in a culture can develop different characteristics, while their genome remains unchanged. Kuipers stated: ‘Our research has many applications, for example the improvement of protein production in industrial fermentation'. Another important subject is the production and modification of peptides. These modified peptides (called lantibiotics), are made by bacteria, and can serve as antibiotic. Modified peptides are chemically more stable and retain their function longer than unmodified peptides. This is beneficial for medical applications as a novel class of antibiotics. Further areas of focus are the molecular biology of: competence, sporulation and bistability in Bacillus subtilis, the reconstruction of gene networks, antimicrobial peptides, antibiotics, mechanisms of pathogenesis, cell wall anchoring, controlled gene expression systems, the subcellular localization of protein, stress response, quorum sensing, regulation of the C- and N-metabolism, natural gene transfer methodologies, plant-biocontrol by Bacilli and Biotechnology applications.

The research of Kuipers and his research group is focused on curiosity driven research with a keen eye on biotechnological applications. Kuipers has so far supervised 21 postdoctoral researchers and 35 PhD students in their doctorate research. At the moment (October 2015) he supervises 18 PhD students and 7 postdoctoral researchers. He has been invited more than 180 times to national and international conferences, seminars and congresses to give a lecture.

Prof. dr. O.P. Kuipers published 365 articles in scientific papers, 2 books and 18 chapters in books. 34 publications appeared in 2015. Kuipers articles have been cited over 26 148 times and he has a H-index of 84 and an i10 index of 278. This means that 80 of his articles have been cited at least 80 times and that 278 articles have been cited more than 10 times.

From 2008 Kuipers is supervisor, coach and coordinator of the iGEM student team Groningen. iGEM is a worldwide competition in the field of synthetic biology between teams of students from all over the world. The team from Groningen won in the annual in Boston (United States) organized international competition several gold medals (2008 to 2016). In 2012, when the team from Groningen became world champion, the research concerned a study of an alternative method to determine whether food is spoiled: the Food warden . This method makes use of genetic engineered bacteria responsive to the volatiles of the decomposing meat. A pigment makes the decomposition visible.

Oscar Paul Kuipers (Rotterdam, May 12, 1956) is a Dutch professor of molecular genetics at the University of Groningen (UG). His areas of expertise include microbiology, biochemistry & molecular and cell biology and biotechnology.