Abstract

DNA nanotechnology provides strategies to design self-assembling nanostructures, with applications in material science and nanomedicine. We are using DNA to design and build reconfigurable nanomaterials, providing modular components for nanorobotic systems. Applications include programmable lipid-interacting nanostructures for cell-cell communication. We are also designing DNA interactions to drive liquid-liquid phase separation for building synthetic cells. This approach allows us to address fundamental questions on the origins of life, such as understanding how simple changes in material properties can lead to cell-like functions.

Short Bio

Shelley Wickham is Associate Professor in Chemistry and Physics at the University of Sydney. She received her PhD in Condensed Matter Physics from the University of Oxford, UK, working on building synthetic molecular motors out of DNA. She was then a postdoc at Harvard Medical School, designing 3-dimensional DNA origami nanostructures to study biological systems. Her research group focuses on self-assembling nanotechnology and molecular robotics, with applications in cell biology, materials science, nanomedicine and understanding the origins of life. 

What is an AIAS Seminar?

The AIAS Seminar Series is a session of seminars held by the AIAS fellows, AIAS Visiting or Tandem Fellows or by other speakers proposed by the fellows. In each seminar, a fellow will present and discuss her/his current research and work-in-progress to an interdisciplinary audience for 30 minutes, closing off with 30 minutes for questions, comments and discussion.

All seminars are in-person and held in English. To attend online, please contact us at info@aias.au.dk by 9:00am on the day of the seminar as the latest to request a link.