Xing Wang’s research group utilizes nucleic acids and protein engineering to evolve new molecular binders, and create and customize designer DNA nanostructure-based “plug-and-play” platforms for bioengineering and bio-nanotechnology applications centered on healthcare. He also has training in RNA-mediated genome programming and cellular engineering, and RNA chemistry and biology. Wang is the inventor of the DNA Star and DNA Net platforms/strategy for multivalent and pattern-recognition enabled disease diagnostics and therapeutics (Nat. Chem., 2020; Nat. Protoc., 2022; J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2023, 2024). Wang’s Nucleic Acids Programming Lab (NAPL) is focusing on the creation and development of (1) effective therapeutic candidates and targeted drug/mRNA delivery platforms for cancer treatment and immunotherapy, as well as inhibition and prevention of viral infections, (2) ultrasensitive and inexpensive biosensors for rapid, simple, and amplification free disease diagnostics in point-of-care, self-testing, and laboratory-based high-throughput settings, (3) machine learning model, molecular docking, and molecular dynamic simulations pipeline to rapidly obtain new ligands for targeted drug delivery, and (4) molecular barcodes for multiplex and high resolution biosensing and imaging. His research group is currently supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIBIB, NIAID, NIDCR, NIAAA, NCI) and National Science Foundation (NSF).
Wang received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from New York University. He did his postdoctoral training at Princeton University to explore novel functions of synthetic RNAs in genome editing. He is a recipient of the Mikashi Awards in 2021. He was selected as a fellow of Y Combinator Founder Cohort in 2021. Wang is a co-founder of a startup company, Atom Bioworks Inc., where he currently serves as a scientific advisor. His team’s DNA Machine Demo was selected by TechCrunch as a best project in the Y Combinator’s W21 Demo Day event. He is a co-director of the Center for Pathogen Diagnostics (CPD). Before joining Illinois faculty, Wang was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.