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Mineral facilitated horizontal gene transfer in the Molecular Geobiology Group
We work in the cross field between geology, mineralogy, interfacial geochemistry, geomicrobiology, biology and chemistry. The interface between biology and mineralogy are vital for many aspects of life and health and we apply in-situ molecular- to macro scale techniques to study bio-mineral associations.
Research focus
Currently we (group and collaborators) are focused on establishing fundamental information on:
- How and why minerals can preserve DNA and proteins across time and space
- How transfer of extracellular DNA adsorbed to substrates such as plastics, minerals and tissue can benefit bacterial evolution across time and space as well as aiding propagation of antibiotic resistance genes in our environment.
- How evolutionary processes affects health (Medical Geobiology): exploration of how environmental stressors influence evolution in cancer, biofilms and the thriving niches in the plastisphere.
Hendiani, S. Carbajo, C. Caicedo, P. N. A. Verma, T. Hansen, M. F. Agbaje, O. B. A. Mulec, I. M. Burmølle, M. Sand , K. K. Reconciling the Role of Mineral Surfaces for Bacterial Evolution: Importance of Minerals in the Dissemination of Antibiotic Resistance. Sci. Total Environ. 2025, 962, 178301.
Hammarlund, E. U., Jauffred, L., Posth, N. R., Sand, K. K. Tackling Ongoing Crises with Collective Evolutionary Knowledge. Evol. Earth 2024, 2,
Verma, T. Hendiani, S. Carbajo, C. Andersen, S. B. Hammarlund, E. U. Burmølle, M. Sand, K. K. Recurrence and Propagation of Past Functions through Mineral Facilitated Horizontal Gene Transfer. Front. Microbiol. 2024, 15.
Sand, K.K, Jelavić S, Kjær, K. Prohaska, A. 2024. Importance of eDNA taphonomy and sediment provenance for robust ecological inference: insights from interfacial geochemistry. Environmental DNA, (2)
Freeman, C. L., Dieudonne, L., Collins, M. J. and *Sand, K. K 2024. Survival of environmental DNA in sediments: Mineralogic control on DNA taphonomy. Environmental DNA, (5) 1691-1706
Sand, K.K. and Jelavić, S. 2018.Mineral facilitated horizontal gene transfer: A new principle for evolution of life? Frontiers in Geomicrobiology (9).
List of publications by Karina Krarup Sand.
Villum Fonden
Novo Nordisk
Gerda og Aage Haensch's Fond
Carlsberg
Horizon Europe
Geocenter Danmark
Group members
| Name | Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magnus August Ravn Harding | Postdoc | +4535334559 | |
| Qinna Cui | Postdoc | +4535337363 | |
| Angela M. Sanchez-Salazar | Postdoc | ||
| Taru Verma | Postdoc | +4535337002 | |
| Pablo Nicolas Arellano Caicedo | PhD fellow | +4535334274 | |
| Carlota Carbajo Moral | PhD fellow | ||
| Ann-Charlotta Flensborg | MSc student | ||
| Mohadeseh Ghaffari | Research assistent |