ChEMS Seminar: Programming Dynamic Nucleic Acid Biomaterials

Abstract: Cells have unique abilities to sense, process, and actuate based on environmental stimuli: their molecular components are constantly running many parallel programs that ensure correct growth, motion, reshaping, and repair in response to external inputs. How can modern engineers harness such a powerful toolkit of DNA, RNA, and proteins to create the next generation of smart materials? I will describe our efforts in this area, which are centered on the combination of nucleic acids nanotechnology and dynamical systems theory. I will summarize our efforts in the design and synthesis of reconfigurable biomaterials built with DNA and RNA, where the material growth is directed by autonomous molecular signals such as transcriptional networks and oscillators. 

Biography: Elisa Franco is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at UC Riverside. She received a Ph.D. in control and dynamical systems from Caltech, and a Ph.D. in automation and a M.S. in power systems engineering from the University of Trieste, Italy. Her research interests are in the areas of biological feedback networks and DNA nanotechnology. She received the NSF CAREER award in 2015, a Hellman fellowship and a UC Regents fellowship in 2013.