时间：2017年6月14日（周三）14:30

地点：下沙校区D楼204

Abstract:

CRISPR-Cas9 is a gene editing tool that has resulted in revolutionary changes in life science research. However, the physical basis for its target specificity is not fully understood. A recently developed statistical mechanics theory for the CRISPR system reveals a strong correlation between the gene editing efficiency and the thermodynamic properties of the DNA-Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) interacting system. The new physical insights also leads to improved off-target predictions and more accurate guide RNA design for genome engineering applications. Furthermore, because an RNA molecule is a highly charged polyanion, metal ions in the solution are critical for RNA folding. By accounting for ion fluctuation and correlation effects, a recently developed new theory enables quantitative modeling for metal ion effect in RNA folding, conformational switch, and RNA-protein interactions. Applications of the theory have led to significant insights into metal ion electrostatic force-mediated RNA folding and function.

报告人简介：

陈世杰（Shi-Jie Chen），美国密苏里大学物理与天文系、生物化学系、信息学研究所教授；PLoS-Computational Biology杂志Associate Editor；国际RNA纳米技术与纳米医学学会创始理事会成员。1987年获得浙江大学的理学学士学位，专业为理论物理，并通过李政道先生倡导的CUSPEA项目到美国学习；1994年获得University of California-San Diego的物理学博士学位，方向为理论等离子体物理；1994-1999年，University of California-San Francisco，博士后，方向为理论与计算生物物理；1999年，University of Missouri-Columbia，助理教授；2004年，晋升为副教授；2007年，晋升为教授；2012年，当选为美国物理学会（APS）Fellow。陈教授是美国国家卫生研究院NIH和美国国家基金委NSF多个重要项目的主持人，先后在PNAS, JACS, Annual Review of Biophysics, Nucleic Acids Research等杂志上发表近90篇文章。