DNA-Encoded Protein Sensing
Event details
| Date | 10.12.2025 |
| Hour | 09:00 › 10:00 |
| Speaker | Sarah E. Sandler, Ph.D., Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA (USA) |
| Location | Online |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
2-DAY BIOE MINI-SYMPOSIUM on Measurement Technologies
(talk one / next talk)
Abstract:
Nanopores are transforming DNA sequencing and are emerging as powerful tools for sensing and characterizing RNA, peptides, proteins, metabolites and protein-DNA complexes. By combining the single molecule nanopore technology with engineered DNA nanostructures, we can create powerful therapeutic and diagnostic technologies. In this talk, I will discuss my past work using solid-state nanopores as tools for screening interactions of proteins with nucleic acids for CRISPR-Cas guide design (Sandler et al., Nature Biomedical Engineering 2023) as well as for screening interactions between small molecules and proteins for developing modulators of protein aggregation in neurodegeneration (Sandler, Horne et al., JACS, 2024, Sandler, Horne et al. Nature Reviews Chemistry 2025). Beyond screening approaches, the two techniques, DNA nanotechnology and nanopore sensing, are also powerful tools in the space of diagnostics. I have demonstrated this both for neurodegenerative biomarkers as well as biomarkers for infectious disease using two different approaches. One approach, successive proximity extension amplification reaction (SPEAR), developed in the Yin group, is capable of sensing sub-femtomolar concentrations of proteins from only 1 µL of sample with a qPCR read out. The other approach, which I developed in the Keyser group at the University of Cambridge, involves engineering DNA-RNA nanostructures to act as highly specific biosensors with single nucleotide resolution for detecting a variety of RNA of different sizes and identities, without the need for amplification. By combining DNA nanotechnology and nanopore sensing we can engineer platforms capable of screening interactions between proteins and their targets as well as detecting biomarkers all in a multiplexed manner.
Bio:
Dr. Sarah Sandler is currently a post-doctoral research fellow at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University in the Yin group. She holds a B.S. from Clemson University in Materials Science and Engineering with a polymeric material focus and minors in Microbiology, International Science and Engineering. Following her time at Clemson, she moved to the University of Cambridge in the UK, where she received her Master’s degree in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology as well as her PhD in Physics in the Keyser group, which was funded by Oxford Nanopore Technologies. She is the founder of NanoDEX, a start-up leveraging nanopore technology for therapeutic applications.
Zoom link for attending remotely, if needed: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/66947851573
(talk one / next talk)
Abstract:
Nanopores are transforming DNA sequencing and are emerging as powerful tools for sensing and characterizing RNA, peptides, proteins, metabolites and protein-DNA complexes. By combining the single molecule nanopore technology with engineered DNA nanostructures, we can create powerful therapeutic and diagnostic technologies. In this talk, I will discuss my past work using solid-state nanopores as tools for screening interactions of proteins with nucleic acids for CRISPR-Cas guide design (Sandler et al., Nature Biomedical Engineering 2023) as well as for screening interactions between small molecules and proteins for developing modulators of protein aggregation in neurodegeneration (Sandler, Horne et al., JACS, 2024, Sandler, Horne et al. Nature Reviews Chemistry 2025). Beyond screening approaches, the two techniques, DNA nanotechnology and nanopore sensing, are also powerful tools in the space of diagnostics. I have demonstrated this both for neurodegenerative biomarkers as well as biomarkers for infectious disease using two different approaches. One approach, successive proximity extension amplification reaction (SPEAR), developed in the Yin group, is capable of sensing sub-femtomolar concentrations of proteins from only 1 µL of sample with a qPCR read out. The other approach, which I developed in the Keyser group at the University of Cambridge, involves engineering DNA-RNA nanostructures to act as highly specific biosensors with single nucleotide resolution for detecting a variety of RNA of different sizes and identities, without the need for amplification. By combining DNA nanotechnology and nanopore sensing we can engineer platforms capable of screening interactions between proteins and their targets as well as detecting biomarkers all in a multiplexed manner.
Bio:
Dr. Sarah Sandler is currently a post-doctoral research fellow at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University in the Yin group. She holds a B.S. from Clemson University in Materials Science and Engineering with a polymeric material focus and minors in Microbiology, International Science and Engineering. Following her time at Clemson, she moved to the University of Cambridge in the UK, where she received her Master’s degree in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology as well as her PhD in Physics in the Keyser group, which was funded by Oxford Nanopore Technologies. She is the founder of NanoDEX, a start-up leveraging nanopore technology for therapeutic applications.
Zoom link for attending remotely, if needed: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/66947851573
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
- Prof. Georg Fantner, Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, EPFL
Contact
- Institute of Bioengineering (IBI), Dietrich REINHARD