Research Directions
The Chen Lab at Peking University combines bioengineering, molecular biology, cell biology, fluorescence imaging, and nanotechnology to create novel nucleic acid-based methods for the detection and/or treatment of human diseases such as cancer and infectious diseases. Specific research interests include (i) Developing highly biostable and sensitive nucleic-acid nanodevices for intracellular analysis of RNA and chromatin dynamics that are key regulators of cellular physiology and pathogenesis; (ii) Constructing self-assembled RNA nanostructure-based therapeutics; (iii) Demystifying the role of viral and host cellular RNAs in retroviral assembly using advanced imaging techniques. Research in the Chen lab is currently supported by the National Key R&D Program of China and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.