Coloured electron micrograph of a Chlamydomonas pyrenoid

Understanding and engineering phytoplankton carbon fixation

We study how algae concentrate CO₂ to fix carbon, using systems and synthetic biology in green and red algae, diatoms and cyanobacteria. Our goal is to understand these mechanisms well enough to rebuild them in crops.

Image courtesy of Ursula Goodenough

News

Oct 2026James visits Basel to learn expansion microscopy
Jul 2026Mackinder Lab at ICPR 2026
Dec 2025Lab Christmas meal 2025
Oct 2025Ousmane starts his Royal Society Career Development Fellowship!
Sep 2025Mackinder Lab hosts CCM11
Jul 2025Molecular Life of Diatoms (MLD8)
Mar 2025Gaurav receives Flash Talk Award at the Indian Biophysical Society Meeting
Mar 2025Katy organises a science outreach with local schools
Dec 2024Lab Christmas meal 2024
Nov 2024Justin’s viva

Recent papers

From seawater to pyrenoid: the molecular architecture of the diatom CO₂-concentrating mechanism Plant Physiology 2026
Molecular organization of the Chlorella sorokiniana pyrenoid bioRxiv 2026
A spatial atlas of the seaweed CO₂-fixation machinery reveals a unique Rubisco condensation mechanism bioRxiv 2026
The mosaic of aquatic photorespiration: evolution, diversity, and global biogeochemical impacts New Phytologist 2026

All publications →

We're hiring

Postdoctoral Research Associate (closes 31 Oct 2026)

See open positions