Professor Ebbe Sloth Andersen, Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center, Aarhus University 

RNA Origami Robots for Applications in Biotechnology and Medicine

RNA is the central messenger and composer of life processes, has many faces as both RNA viruses and mRNA vaccines, and is even thought to have played the leading role in the origin of life on Earth. In this lecture, I will tell about how my fascination with the RNA molecule has driven my scientific career: How I developed from a cartoonist into a dedicated RNA scientist. How I was an early adopter of the DNA origami method but later saw the need to invent the RNA origami method. How great members of my laboratory developed both DNA and RNA technology far beyond expectations. And how this led to my future research plans of developing RNA origami robots for applications in biotechnology and medicine. Finally, I would like to highlight the importance of an interdisciplinary nanoscience environment, core experimental techniques, and close collaborators for exploring the creative, scientific and innovative potential of folding biomolecules into novel shapes.

PROGRAM

14:00-14:05 Welcome by iNANO Director Jeppe Vang Lauritsen

14:05-15:00 Inaugural lecture RNA Origami Robots for Applications in Biotechnology and Medicine

15:00-16:00 Reception in the iNANO foyer

In connection with the event the “Sloth Lab Band” will play in the Nanorama Friday bar at 20.00.