Welcome to the Magnusson Lab

Vision

We believe that biological research will transition from mostly describing natural cell behaviors to mostly designing and engineering complex cell behaviors to address specific challenges. This transition will have profound societal impact across a wide range of fields. In medicine, the ability to program cell behavior and identity in a data-driven way will enable entirely new cell-based treatments.

In this newly established research group, we aim to use synthetic biology to advance regenerative medicine – designing genome engineering tools (e.g., CRISPR) and computer algorithms to predict and control cell behaviors useful for tissue repair.

Approach

Cell identity and behavior are governed by multi-gene networks where tens or hundreds of genes are turned on and off in coordinated ways. The ability to control such networks with high precision could enable rational programming of complex cellular processes that are useful for regenerative medicine.

We seek to integrate novel genome engineering tools (e.g., CRISPR-based systems) with prediction algorithms to enable data-driven precision control of cell identity and behavior, with a special focus on stem cells. For example, we recently developed PreciCE, a CRISPR-based platform for performing data-driven, simultaneous activation and repression of multiple genes in pluripotent stem cells.

Our team is based at the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm, Sweden), a stellar research environment that brings together fundamental technology development and clinical applications for cell and gene therapies in one single integrated setting.

Papers

Selected publications and preprints prior to academic independence (2025)

Magnusson JP*#, Roohani Y*, Stauber D, Situ Y, Ruiz de Castroviejo Teba P, Sandberg R, Leskovec J, Qi LS#. (2024) PreciCE: Precision engineering of cell fates via data-driven multi-gene control of transcriptional networks. BioRxiv. *Equal contribution, #Co-corresponding author.

Magnusson JP, Rios AR, Wu L, Qi LS (2021) Enhanced Cas12a multi-gene regulation using a CRISPR array separator. eLife.

Magnusson JP, Zamboni M, Santopolo G, Mold JE, Barrientos Somarribas M, Talavera-Lopez C, Andersson B & Frisén J (2020) Activation of a neural stem cell transcriptional program in parenchymal astrocytes. Elife.

Zamboni M, Llorens-Bobadilla E, Magnusson JP, Frisén J (2020) A Widespread Neurogenic Potential of Neocortical Astrocytes Is Induced by Injury. Cell Stem Cell.

Santopolo G, Magnusson JP, Lindvall O, Kokaia Z, Frisén J (2020) Blocking Notch-Signaling Increases Neurogenesis in the Striatum after Stroke. Cells.

Magnusson JP & Frisén J. (2016) Stars from the darkest night: unlocking the neurogenic potential of astrocytes in different brain regions. Development.

Magnusson JP*, Göritz C*, Tatarishvili J, Dias DO, Smith E, Lindvall O, Kokaia Z, Frisén, J. (2014) A latent neurogenic program in astrocytes regulated by Notch signaling in the mouse. Science. *Equal contribution.

Contact

If you are passionate about engineering biology, we would love to hear from you!

https://ki.se/en/people/jens-magnusson
jens.magnusson [at] ki [dot] se

Elements

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