Research Interests:
A major bottleneck in previous biological and medical research is the lack of modular and programmable genetic technologies to precisely monitor and manipulate specific cell types and cell states. How to construct therapeutic agents that can precisely affect specific cell types or specific cell states, and how to modify and manipulate targeted cell populations in a precise manner, remain significant challenges in precision medicine. My previous work focused on the development and application of genetic technologies for the nervous system, leading to the invention of CellREADR: a novel RNA sensor-based technology for cell monitoring and manipulation, and the elucidation of its potential translational medical value (Qian et al., Nature 2022). At Peking University, we will build upon this foundation to develop next-generation technologies for monitoring and manipulating cell types and cell states, explore the application of novel RNA technologies in basic biology and translational medicine, and advance the development of "programmable medicine."
The laboratory's research directions include: 1.Developing new RNA-based tools and methods. 2.Novel methods for labeling and manipulating microglia, and studying their roles in Alzheimer’s disease and aging. 3.Engineering immune cells and "rewriting" their new functions.
Selected Publications:
1. Qian, Y., Li, J., Zhao, S., Matthews, E., Adoff, M., Zhong, W., An, X., Yeo, M., Park, C., Wang, B.-S. , et al. (2022). Programmable RNA Sensing for Cell Monitoring and Manipulation. Nature DIO:10.1038/s41586-022-05280-1
2. Qian, Y., Cao, Y., Deng, B., Yang, G., Li, J., Xu, R., Zhang, D., Huang, J., and Rao, Y. (2017). Sleep homeostasis regulated by 5HT2b receptor in a small subset of neurons in the dorsal fan-shaped body of drosophila. Elife 6 .
3. Deng, B., Li, Q., Liu, X., Cao, Y., Li, B., Qian, Y., Xu, R., Mao, R., Zhou, E., Zhang, W. , et al. (2019). Chemoconnectomics: Mapping Chemical Transmission in Drosophila. Neuron 101 , 876-893 e874.