BioE Seminar Series: Towards an Era of RNA Design for Biology and Global Health
The Lucks Group aims to understand and harness the ability of RNA molecules to control cellular processes for an array of applications in biomanufacturing, diagnostics and disease. Our focus is on making RNA a powerful molecular substrate for engineering gene expression by leveraging its functional versatility, our ability to control its function by designing its structure, and our ability to characterize its biochemistry and biophysics in unprecedented throughput and scale with next generation sequencing tools that we have pioneered. Specifically, we: (1) Engineer new RNA regulatory mechanisms and build RNA genetic networks to precisely program gene expression in applications that range from metabolic engineering to smart diagnostics; and (2) Develop new technologies to uncover RNA sequence/structure/function relationships that feed back into our RNA engineering. We also use our tools to understand natural RNAs that regulate fundamental cellular processes and diseases.