丁香园AV

A major and long-term interest of my research program is to gain a deep understanding of the catalytic possibilities of DNA and RNA. Astonishing recent discoveries in the biology of RNA (such as riboswitches and miRNA) have shown it to be anything but a passive carrier of genetic information. Indeed, the existence of ribozymes (catalytic RNAs) has long bolstered the notion of an 鈥淩NA World鈥�, an early stage in evolution in which RNA was responsible for both informational and catalytic functions within organisms.  A focus of my lab is to search for new and often unexpected catalytic properties of RNA (and of its surrogate, DNA).  We are one of only a few labs in the world that specialize in this area; however, our key papers have contributed to new thinking about primordial biochemistry, the de novo design of biocatalysts, and generated often unexpected practical applications, particularly in the field of biosensing.

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Email: 

DIPANKAR SEN
sen@sfu.ca

Lab Room:

SSB 7148

Lab Phone: 

(778) 782-5655