Henning Jessen

Prof. Henning Jessen is a Full Professor of Bioorganic Chemistry at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, part of the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Freiburg. He serves as Coordinator of Research Area B and Principal Investigator for Research Areas B and C. His work focuses on chemical biology, phosphate homeostasis, inorganic polyphosphate, nucleotides, and inositol pyrophosphates.

Research projects include investigating phase separation in living materials, chemically fueled adaptive materials, and dissipative systems engineering. Key collaborations involve livMatS initiatives such as Logic Self-Reporting Mechano-Adaptive Metamaterials. Jessen supervises doctoral researchers Vanessa Barth and Dr. Alexander Ripp.

His research highlights spontaneous peptide elongation mechanisms, hierarchical mechanical transduction in DNA hydrogels, and the synthesis of stable isotope-labeled mRNA caps for sensitive tissue analysis. His work bridges organic chemistry with biological systems, emphasizing phosphate-based signaling and material engineering.

Publications span topics like enzymatic mechanisms, polyphosphate kinases, and synthetic nucleotide analogs. Awards and grants are not explicitly listed, but his projects are funded by DFG’s Excellence Strategy.