RNA Nanotechnology

In the past few decades there has been incredible growth in “bionano”-related research, which has been accompanied by numerous publications in this field. Although various compilations address topics related to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and protein, there are few books that focus on determining the structure of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and using RNA as building blocks to construct nanoarchitectures for biomedical and healthcare applications.

RNA Nanotechnology is a comprehensive volume that details both the traditional approaches and the latest developments in the field of RNA-related technology. This book targets a wide audience: a broad introduction provides a solid academic background for students, researchers, and scientists who are unfamiliar with the subject, while the in-depth descriptions and discussions are useful for advanced professionals.

The book opens with reviews on the basic aspects of RNA biology, computational approaches for predicting RNA structures, and traditional and emerging experimental approaches for probing RNA structures. This section is followed by explorations of the latest research and discoveries in RNA nanotechnology, including the design and construction of RNA-based nanostructures. The final segment of the book includes descriptions and discussions of the potential biological and therapeutic applications of small RNA molecules, such as small/short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), RNA aptamers, and ribozymes.

Author Biography

Bin Wang obtained her Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry at Queen’s University (Canada). Her doctoral studies with Richard D. Oleschuk and J. Hugh Horton spanned the areas of analytical chemistry, nanotechnology, and surface chemistry, which involved developing polymer materials to fabricate microfluidic devices and further chemical modification of polymer surfaces for specific microfluidic applications. After finishing her Ph.D. study, Dr. Wang conducted a one-year postdoctoral research with P. Martin Petkovich at Queen’s University to develop antigen- and antibody-modified polymer microdevices. In 2005, she joined Kevin M. Weeks’ research group at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her postdoctoral work involved applying the newly developed RNA structure–analyzing technology to monitor ligand-induced conformational changes in tRNAs and mRNAs. Dr. Wang’s areas of interest are RNA biochemistry and nanotechnology.