Peng Yin
Our research interest lies at the interface of information science, molecular engineering, and biology. We are generally interested in developing programmable molecular systems and technology inspired by biology. Specifically, we focus on engineering information directed self-assembly of nucleic acid (DNA/RNA) structures and devices, and on exploiting such systems to do useful molecular work, such as probing and programming biological processes for imaging and therapeutic applications.
The Yin lab is interested in engineering programmable molecular systems inspired by biology. At present their main focus is information directed self-assembly of nucleic acid (DNA/RNA) structures and devices, and on exploiting such systems to do useful molecular work.
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About Dr. Yin: Peng is a Professor in the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School. Peng’s lab uses synthetic DNA/RNA to construct, manipulate, and visualize nanoscale structures. They have developed a general framework to program DNA/RNA strands to self-assemble into structures with user-specified geometry or dynamics. By interfacing these nanostructures with other functional entities (e.g. fluorophores, proteins, inorganics, living cells), they have introduced digital programmability into diverse application areas, e.g. fabrication of inorganic nanoparticles with user-prescribed shapes, robust DNA/RNA probes with near optimal binding specificity for detecting single-base genetic changes, RNA-based synthetic regulators with unprecedented dynamic range and orthogonality for complex programming of protein translation in living cells and on paper-based systems, and highly multiplexed (10+), precisely quantitative (90%+ precision), ultra-high resolution (< 5 nm) super-resolution imaging using DNA-PAINT.