The overall goal of my research is the development of Biological Engineering at the molecular level by integrating molecular biology with engineering. More specifically, my research group is concentrating on engineering biomacromolecules, DNA for example, into useful, novel materials for biological, biomedical and nanotechnological applications.

Our research has been inspired by Nadrian Seeman's (at NYU) pioneering work which created a variety of DNA nanostructures including 3-way and 4-way junctions and double crossovers -- components of objects, lattices and devices -- since the early 1980's. Our research also benefited greatly from my earlier trainings which included research on DNA topoisomerases and DNA networks (at The Ohio State University, under Prof. Mark Muller) and on polymeric DNA delivery (at Cornell under Prof. Mark Saltzman). Prof. Saltzman's (currently at Yale) mentorship has played the most important role in shaping up my research and my career.

Our research, by necessity, has taken us two directions: basic science research and applied engineering research. In basic science research, we are trying to establish a discipline that integrates molecular biology with engineering. In particular, we are creating novel materials including DNA-based materials and trying to understand the structure-function relationships of them across differing scales (from molecular to nano to micro to meso). We are also studying new properties and new phenomena discovered in these materials and explore molecular organiations with both self-assembly and controlled assembly processes.

In applied engineering research, our second direction, we are creating novel materials and devices for a variety of applications. In particular, we have been focusing on three major areas. First, we have established a platform technology based on our dendrimer-like DNA: the DNA nanobarcode. This technology is able to detect multiple pathogens simultaneously with high sensitivity and a short processing time. In addition to further optimize and improve this system, we are expanding it into protein-based detection. A portable detection device is also being developed. Second, we have created a DNA-based hydro-gel. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a gel has been created entirely from DNA with 3D nanosized building blocks via enzymes. These DNA hydrogels can be molded into different shapes, and their properties can be easily fine tuned. More importantly, small molecule drugs, active large proteins, and even live mammalian cells have been encapsulated in situ eliminating the time-consuming drug loading step and also avoiding denaturing conditions. Sustained, controlled release of drugs has also been achieved. This demonstrates that our nanosized DNA can be used as a designer material for building blocks that can create DNA-gels that are biocompatible, biodegradable, and will have great potential for drug delivery, tissue engineering, 3D cell culture, and other biomedical applications. Three, we have developed new and exciting applications of DNA-gel beyond drug delivery (details coming soon).

Examples of our research:
   1) Nucleic Acid Engineering (basic research)
   2) Drug Delivery (applications)
   3) Nanobiotechnology (applications)