The Giessen Lab is interested in the structure, function, and engineering of protein organelles, protein machines, and enzyme filaments. Our current focus lies on microbial protein organelles, compartments, and filaments involved in detoxification, nutrient utilization, and natural product biosynthesis, as well as on the discovery and characterization of novel enzyme machines and assemblies involved in the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds. We endeavor to leverage our molecular level insights into large protein assemblies for synthetic biology applications in drug delivery, biocatalysis, and bionanotechnology. Our interdisciplinary work utilizes techniques and approaches spanning the fields of biochemistry, structural biology (cryo-EM and x-ray crystallography), microbiology and synthetic biology.