Thomas Rexer

Dr. Thomas Rexer is a Team Leader in Synthetic Glycobiotechnology at the Department of Bioprocess Engineering, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg, Germany. He has held this position since 2018, following his postdoctoral work at the same institution from 2014-2018.

His educational background includes:

• PhD from Newcastle University (2010-2013)
• MSc in Advanced Chemical Engineering from The University of Manchester (2009-2010)
• BSc in Process Engineering from the University of Stuttgart (2005-2008)

Dr. Rexer's research focuses on synthetic biotechnology with emphasis on cell-free biocatalytic processes for nucleotide sugar synthesis and purification. His work develops synthetic platforms for the in vitro glycosylation of proteins, integrating protein expression & purification, high-performance metabolite- and glycoanalytics, and mathematical modeling of multienzyme networks. His research has significant implications for therapeutic protein development, as approximately 70% of therapeutic proteins are glycoproteins yet understanding of glycan structure-function relationships remains limited.

His recent publications demonstrate expertise in cell-free multi-enzyme systems for synthesizing various nucleotide sugars (UDP-galactose, UDP-GlcNAc, GDP-mannose, GDP-L-fucose) and applying these systems to glycoengineer proteins including the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. His work bridges biochemistry, bioprocess engineering, and glycobiology to address challenges in protein glycosylation.

Current research funding includes:

• "Deciphering the impact of Sars-CoV-2 envelope protein glycosylation on human pathogenicity" (DFG)
• "SynGlyco" (Exist-Forschungstransfer, BMWK)
• Previously: "Aufbau einer Plattform zur in-vitro N-Glykosylierung von Proteinen" (BMBF)

Dr. Rexer leads a research team including Dr. Mariana Juárez-Osorio, Tuan Hoang Son, and Johannes Ruhnau. He collaborates extensively with researchers at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and Hannover Medical School. His laboratory develops integrated process platforms that combine protein expression, purification, analytics, and mathematical modeling to advance synthetic glycobiotechnology.