Yuvaraj is a Novo Nordisk postdoctoral fellow in the MuSE team since 2022, working with the bacteriophage T4 and the intestinal phage Shimazdu. Yuvaraj is studying the role of hypermodifications and Diversity generating retroelements in phage evolution and their ability to overcome host defense mechanisms.
Like most students hailing from Bangalore, the information technological hub of India, he performed his undergraduate study to become an Engineer but with a focus on biology. Following a brief stint in software development, he moved to Germany to complete his Masters in Science (Microbiology) at the Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena. Fascinated by viruses and the newly discovered CRISPR-Cas defense mechanism, he moved to Denmark as part of his Master thesis and stayed to complete his PhD under the supervision of Dr. Xu Peng. During his doctoral work on Archaeal host and virus interactions, he studied host defense and viral anti-defense mechanisms, specifically relating to CRISPR-Cas and Toxin-Antitoxin systems. In his free time, he enjoys watching non-English films, reading, climbing and exploring localities unknown to tourists in Paris.
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