Dr. Laura Catón
Main Focus
I am interested in how microbes can be engineered for useful applications. My work aims to advance the field of genetic structural colour towards the development of biotechnological sustainable solutions.
I am particularly interested in:
- Engineering living materials using structurally coloured bacteria
- Using synthetic biology to study and control the genetic basis of structural colour in bacteria
- Uncovering the genetic pathways responsible for bacterial photonic structure formation
- Investigating the ecological function and spatial patterning of structural colour in microbial communities
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Laura Catón is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Sustainable and Bio-inspired Materials, headed by Prof. Silvia Vignolini, at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces.
Laura received her BSc and MSc in Environmental Science from Granada University. During her MSc, her research focused on bacterial bioremediation at the Water Institute of the University of Granada and on novel bacterial protein secretion systems at Utrecht University. Both projects aligned with her interest in microbial systems and their biotechnological potential in environmental and health applications.
She worked for several years as a research assistant at biotechnology companies in the Netherlands before pursuing an industrial CASE PhD at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with the biotech company Hoekmine. During her PhD, she established Flavobacterium IR1 as a genetic model organism for studying and engineering bacterial structural colour, demonstrating that its optical appearance can be genetically controlled and opening a new direction in microbial photonic materials. In 2024, she was awarded the ASM-FEMS Mäkelä-Cassell Travel Award for Early-Career Scientists. She maintains a strong interest in connecting fundamental biological research with real-world applications.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/laucaton
Publications
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2905-3045
https://scholar-google-de.webvpn.mpikg.mpg.de/citations?user=5Ns9py8AAAAJ&hl=en