Dr Jose Jimenez Zarco joined the College and the Centre in Autumn 2020.

Dr Jose Jiménez is based in Department of Life Sciences and his research interests include quantum biology - welcome to Imperial Jose!

Short bio

Dr Jiménez is a molecular biologist who earned his PhD in environmental microbiology in 2006 working for Spanish Research Council (CIB-CSIC). After that he moved into systems and synthetic biology of bacteria in postdoctoral positions at the National Center for Biotechnology (CSIC; Spain), Harvard University (USA) as a Fellow for the Foundational Questions in Evolutionary Biology program, and the Synthetic Biology Center at MIT (USA). Jose was appointed as Lecturer in Synthetic Biology in 2014 at the University of Surrey and promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2018. He joined the Department of of Life Sciences at Imperial College London in 2020.

Research interests

His research focuses on a number of topics at the interphase between synthetic biology and evolution. He investigates the trade-offs governing gene expression in single cells and the dynamics of complex microbial communities. The applications of this research range from the development of novel methods to fight antibiotic resistant bacterial pathogens to the use of engineered microorganisms for the upcycling of plastic waste into molecules of added value. Related to quantum technologies, he is interested in understanding how evolution shapes the properties of biological molecules exhibiting quantum mechanisms in vivo. In particular, he is studying proteins involved in the capture of light in photosynthesis and the reception of magnetic fields.

Find out more about the Jiménez Lab