Lucas Farnung, Ph.D.

Lucas Farnung, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School

Dr. rer. nat. Lucas Farnung is an Assistant Professor of Cell Biology. Lucas completed his doctoral thesis at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Germany) and the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Germany). Lucas worked as a postdoctoral fellow and project leader at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry to elucidate molecular mechanisms of chromatin transcription. In 2025, Lucas was named a HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar.

The Farnung Lab investigates key mechanistic questions at the intersection of DNA replication, chromatin, and transcription. Eukaryotic genomes are organized in a structure called chromatin that allows eukaryotic cells to compact their genomes into the small confines of the nucleus. The structure of chromatin and its fundametal unit, the nucleosome, represent a significant challenge to the nucleic acid-transacting machine because any molecular motor that moves through chromatin must overcome contacts between the nucleosomal DNA and the histone octamer. How this process of chromatin passage is coordinated and regulated remains unknown.

The Farnung Lab employs biochemical, biophysical, AI, and structural biology approaches to investigate how the transcription and replication machineries, histone modifying enzymes, chromatin remodellers, and chromatin interact to establish and retain epigenomic information during gene expression and genome duplication. These efforts facilitate our molecular understanding of chromatin, DNA replication, and transcription with direct mechanistic implications for understanding cell differentiation and disease.

Harvard Medical School

Dept of Cell Biology - SGM 402D

240 Longwood Avenue

Boston, MA 02115

Lab Phone: 617-432-0051

Structural basis of human CHD1 nucleosome recruitment and pausing.
Authors: Authors: James AM, Farnung L.
Mol Cell
View full abstract on Pubmed
Structural and enzymatic plasticity of SIRT6 deacylase activity.
Authors: Authors: Wang ZA, Markert J, Whedon SD, Abeywardana MY, Sheng X, Nam E, Lee K, Chen M, Waterbury A, Zhao Y, Farnung L, Cole PA.
J Biol Chem
View full abstract on Pubmed
Structural basis of H3K36 trimethylation by SETD2 during chromatin transcription.
Authors: Authors: Markert JW, Soffers JH, Farnung L.
Science
View full abstract on Pubmed
Chromatin Transcription Elongation - A Structural Perspective.
Authors: Authors: Farnung L.
J Mol Biol
View full abstract on Pubmed
STK19 positions TFIIH for cell-free transcription-coupled DNA repair.
Authors: Authors: Mevissen TET, Kümmecke M, Schmid EW, Farnung L, Walter JC.
Cell
View full abstract on Pubmed
Resolution of transcription-induced hexasome-nucleosome complexes by Chd1 and FACT.
Authors: Authors: Engeholm M, Roske JJ, Oberbeckmann E, Dienemann C, Lidschreiber M, Cramer P, Farnung L.
Mol Cell
View full abstract on Pubmed
STK19 positions TFIIH for cell-free transcription-coupled DNA repair.
Authors: Authors: Mevissen TET, Kümmecke M, Schmid EW, Farnung L, Walter JC.
bioRxiv
View full abstract on Pubmed
Structure of the complete Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rpd3S-nucleosome complex.
Authors: Authors: Markert JW, Vos SM, Farnung L.
Nat Commun
View full abstract on Pubmed
Nucleosomes unwrapped: Structural perspectives on transcription through chromatin.
Authors: Authors: Farnung L.
Curr Opin Struct Biol
View full abstract on Pubmed
Structure of the complete S. cerevisiae Rpd3S-nucleosome complex.
Authors: Authors: Markert JW, Vos SM, Farnung L.
bioRxiv
View full abstract on Pubmed