Freshman class

Above the fold

Jianmin Gao, assistant professor of chemistry

Ph.D., Stanford University

Representative publication: "Assembly of the Complete Eight-Base Artificial Genetic Helix, xDNA, and Its Interaction with the Natural Genetic System," Angewandte Chemie International Edition

Proteins are linear arrays of amino acids, like beads on a chain. It is amazing that these chains fold themselves into precisely constructed architectures with unparalleled function. My research will focus on elucidating the physical principles that govern protein folding-the "energetics of protein folding"-by studying chemically modified model proteins, with the ultimate goal of predicting protein structures and designing protein-like functional molecules.