Idan Frumkin has been a Principal Investigator in the The Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research since 2025.
Idan earned his BSc in life and medical sciences from Tel Aviv University and his PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science. He completed his postdoctoral research at MIT.
Education
2018-2024 Post-doctoral studies in Life Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.
2013-2018 PhD studies in Life Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.
2011-2012 MSc in Life Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.
2008-2010 BSc in Life and Medical Sciences (joint program), Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Academic Appointments
2025-present Assistant Professor, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
How does molecular innovation arise in nature? How are new genes born and integrated into complex biological systems? What functions do these novel genes perform? These fundamental questions drive research in Dr. Idan Frumkin's lab.
We combine advanced methods in molecular biology, synthetic biology, and computational biology to uncover one of evolution's central mysteries - the birth of new genes. Our work spans diverse microbiological systems, from prokaryotes to eukaryotes, with special focus on the evolutionary arms race between bacteria and viruses as a driver of biological innovation.
By unraveling the principles governing molecular innovation, we aim to deepen our understanding of evolution while advancing practical applications in protein engineering, antibiotic development, and the engineering of targeted viruses to combat drug-resistant pathogens.
Curious and highly motivated researchers are invited to join us as graduate students or postdoctoral fellows in this cutting-edge research program.
Frumkin I and Laub M.
Selection of a de novo gene that can promote survival of E. coli by modulating protein homeostasis pathways
Nature Ecology and Evolution, 7: 2067–2079 (2023)
Frumkin I #, Yofe I, Bar-Ziv R, et al., & Pilpel P #
Evolution of intron splicing towards optimized gene expression is based on various cis and trans molecular mechanisms
PLOS Biology 17, e3000423 (2019)
Frumkin I, Lajoie JM, Gregg JC, Hornung G, Church MG & Pilpel Y
Codon usage of highly expressed genes affects proteome-wide translation efficiency
PNAS 115(21):E4940–E4949 (2018)
Frumkin I*, Schirman D*, et al., & Pilpel Y
Gene architectures that minimize cost of gene expression
Molecular Cell 65, 142-153 (2017)
Yona AH*, Bloom-Ackerman Z*, Frumkin I*, et al., & Pilpel Y
tRNA genes rapidly change in evolution to meet novel translational demands
eLife 2, e01339 (2013)
