Nynke Dekker


Nynke Hester Dekker is a Dutch biophysicist who since 2024 has been Professor of Biophysics at the Department of Physics, University of Oxford. Before this she was Professor of Molecular Biophysics at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology. Dekker studies individual DNA and RNA molecules and how they interact with proteins in bacteria, viruses and eukaryotes. She described how virus proteins build errors into the virus RNA of viruses. In 2020, she was awarded the Spinoza Prize.

Early life and education

Dekker, daughter of a United Nations staff member, was born in Amsterdam. She studied physics and applied mathematics in the United States. In 1993, she received her bachelor's degree from Yale University where she worked alongside Mark A. Reed in applied physics. She was a graduate student at Leiden University, where she graduated in physics. In 1996, she received her master's degree in atomic physics from Harvard University. At Harvard, she completed her doctorate in nanotechnology, designing microchips that contained caesium atoms. She moved to Paris as a postdoctoral researcher at the École normale supérieure.

Research and career

In 2002, Dekker moved to Delft University of Technology, where she was made full professor in 2008. Her research considers fundamental biological processes. Cellular function involves DNA replication, a robust biological mechanism with a low error rate. Dekker looks to understand the action of molecules and proteins essential for cellular processes. Her early work investigated the enzyme Type I topoisomerase, which is involved in the replication of DNA and RNA.
Dekker has developed a broad range of single-molecule techniques and nanoanalytical probes, including magnetic and optical tweezers and nanopores. In particular, she developed new capabilities for optical tweezers, including the ability to measure torque.
Dekker spent 2015 on sabbatical at the Francis Crick Institute, where she decided to switch focus to the complex biomolecular processes involved with chromatin replication, which was supported by a ERC Advanced Grant in 2018. Nuclei containing cells called Eukaryotes contain chromatin, a complex of DNA and proteins, which must also be replicated.
Dekker has uncovered how virus proteins insert errors into the viral RMA, which enable viral mutation that protects them from an evolving environment. She was awarded the Spinoza Prize in 2020 for her molecular-level studies of how chemotherapy kills cancer cells.

Awards and honours

Selected publications

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