McCormick School of Engineering - Northwestern University

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Host:  Dipali Sashital

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"Towards an Era of RNA Design for Biology, Biomanufacturing and Health"

RNAs are emerging as a powerful substrate for engineering gene expression and cellular behavior since they are now known to control almost all aspects of gene
expression.  As with all biomolecules, RNA function is intimately related to its structure, since RNA can adopt structures that selectively modulate gene expression. Central questions in biology and bioengineering then are:

• How do RNAs fold inside cells?; and
• How can we engineer these folds to control gene expression?

In this talk, I will present our work at the interface of these two questions and share results that are beginning to uncover design principles for understanding natural RNAs and engineering RNAs for an array of applications.