Xing Wang, PhD
Research Associate Professor
Department of Bioengineering
University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana
Title: Designer DNA Architectures for Virus Detection/Inhibition and Cancer Drug Delivery
Abstract: Viruses and cells present static or dynamic spatial patterns of their surface proteins. Such protein features can be selectively captured by different binders such as aptamers, nanobodies, and antibodies. My group has invented the "DNA Star" and “DNA Net” platforms/strategy to display multiple viral or cell surface protein-targeting binders (aptamers/nanobodies) in a 2D or 3D space to offer multivalent and pattern matching interactions, affording dramatic improvement in virus or cancer cell binding avidity and selectivity. We have been utilizing such bioengineered, “plug-and-play” platforms to generate new and effective disease biosensors and therapeutic candidates. In this talk, I will discuss our recent efforts to engineer customized designer DNA architectures for the development of inexpensive biosensing probes for rapid and ultrasensitive viral detection in point of care- and home-test settings (with a brief discussion about our effort at commercialization), and of effective therapeutic candidates for viral inhibition and cancer therapy.
Bio: Dr. Xing Wang is a Bioengineering faculty and affiliated with IGB, HMNTL, Cancer Center at UIUC, where he directs the Nucleic Acids Programming Lab and co-directs the Center for Pathogen Diagnostics. He received a Ph.D. from NYU and did his postdoc training at Princeton working on RNA engineering and biology. He is a co-founder (currently a scientific advisor) of Atom Bioworks Inc. He got a Mikashi Award (2021) and was selected as a Y Combinator Founder Cohort Member (2021). His research group utilizes nucleic acids and protein engineering to evolve new molecular ligands and create “plug-and-play” platforms for the applications in infectious disease diagnosis/treatment/prevention, cancer diagnosis/treatment/immunotherapy, and high resolution bioimaging.
