Research Associate – Expression (Biochemistry)
About The Position
Merge Labs is a frontier research lab working to bridge biological and artificial intelligence and maximize human ability, agency, and experience. It develops new approaches to brain-computer interfaces that interact with the brain at high bandwidth, integrate with advanced AI, and aim to be safe and accessible. The Expression team combines biochemistry, protein engineering, and cell biology to support efficient assembly of complex protein systems used as molecular readouts of neural activity. The Research Associate will work with scientists to understand and engineer how these protein systems assemble. Through biochemical and cell biology experiments, the role investigates protein interactions, activity, and structure, with opportunities to take increasing ownership of experimental design and interpretation.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s or master’s degree, with a background in biochemistry, structural biology, or a related field.
- Experience using biochemical or biophysical methods to characterize protein structure, dynamics, or protein-protein interactions.
- Hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture, transfection, and cell-based assays.
- Curiosity, attention to detail, and a systematic approach to troubleshooting.
- Strong documentation, communication, and collaboration skills.
Nice To Haves
- Experience expressing and purifying challenging proteins or protein complexes.
- Experience designing and implementing large-scale screens or high-throughput experiments.
- Experience with molecular biology techniques such as cloning, mutagenesis, and plasmid preparation.
Responsibilities
- Design and execute assays to investigate how protein complexes assemble in a poorly understood biochemical system.
- Express and purify proteins, reconstitute complexes, and perform cell-based assays to determine the roles of individual proteins.
- Characterize how variants affect protein function to guide engineering efforts.
- Analyze and present findings to help shape hypotheses and design follow-up experiments.
- Maintain detailed experimental records and organized protein, plasmid, and cell inventories.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
