Alex Snow receives DKK 2.5 million Villum Experiment grant
Plant-PATH postdoc Alexander Snow has received DKK 2.5 million from the Villum Foundation to develop a new approach to studying small membrane transporters.
A new research project led by Plant-PATH postdoc Alexander (Alex) Snow has received DKK 2.5 million through the Villum Experiment programme. The funding will support Alex's project, A Synthetic-Cell-Based Approach to the Structural and Biophysical Study of Small Integral Membrane Transporters.
Membrane transporters are essential to how cells control the movement of molecules across their membranes. Yet they can be particularly difficult to study. Producing enough of these proteins for experiments can be challenging, and proteins that have been purified from cells may lose their stability or behave differently once removed from their native environment.
Alex's project takes a different approach. He will develop a synthetic-cell system that allows small membrane proteins to be produced directly in a membrane under controlled conditions. The aim is to combine some of the advantages of studying proteins in living cells with the experimental control offered by simplified laboratory systems.
This could provide a more flexible way to investigate membrane transporters and their behaviour under different experimental conditions, supporting both structural and biophysical studies.
The Villum Experiment programme is specifically designed to give researchers the opportunity to pursue unconventional ideas at an early stage, including projects where there is a genuine possibility that the proposed approach may not work. In 2026, 53 researchers received Villum Experiment grants, with a total of DKK 129 million awarded. The successful projects were selected from 280 applications following an anonymous assessment focused on the scientific ideas and their originality.
For Alex, the grant provides the opportunity to develop and test a new experimental platform for membrane-protein research over the coming years.
For Plant-PATH, the project adds new expertise and experimental possibilities in the study of membrane proteins, complementing the centre's work to understand the molecular mechanisms that control the active transport of plant hormones.
