Lukas Herold was born in 1999 in Wurzen, Germany. In 2020 he finished his B.Sc. degree in chemistry at the University of Heidelberg, where he worked on gold catalysed photoreactions for 3D printing under the guidance of Prof. S. K. Hashmi. During his master studies he joined the Dietzel group at the University of Bergen for a five-month internship, where he examined the gas absorption properties of interpenetrated pillar‑layered metal organic frameworks. He also conducted research internships at the University of Heidelberg in physical and organic chemistry at the Zaumseil group and the Blasco group, respectively. For his master thesis he joined the Bunz group in Heidelberg and worked on the characterisation and psychoactive activity of novel synthetic cathinones. In December 2023 he joined the Otto group as PhD student studying Darwinian evolution of compartmentalised self-replicators.