Organic Seminar - Jia Niu

The Organic Seminar Series presents: Jia Niu

Boston College

Host: Cassi Callmann

Title: Advancing Precision Biomacromolecules and Mimetics: Synthetic and Evolutionary Strategies

Refreshments served at 3:15pm

Location: WEL 2.122

 

The development of novel biomacromolecules and their mimetics represents a central mission in modern chemistry. Our research aims to bridge polymer chemistry and directed evolution to design and optimize biomacromolecules that unlock new structure-property-function relationships. This presentation will highlight three case studies: the development of precision polysaccharides and pseudo-polysaccharides via living polymerization, new tools for decoding the sulfation patterns in biomolecules, and the intracellular selection of CRISPR-associated aptamers. Together, these examples illustrate the transformative potential of integrating synthetic and evolutionary strategies to develop next-generation biomacromolecule-based tools and materials.