Prof. Yang Dayong from the School of Chemical Engineering and Technology of Tianjin University was invited to Institute for Advanced Materials to participate in the "Weiqiaojia-Youth Academic Salon" and gave an academic lecture. Relevant faculties and students joined in the lecture.

The lecture was held by Prof. Qiao Guanjun, the Dean of the School of Materials Science and Engineering. Prof. Yang gave a lecture entitled “DNA Biofunctional Materials: Assembly and application”. He introduced the use of DNA molecules to synthesize functional materials in detail, focusing on molecular assembly, functional regulation and biological applications. Prof. Yang mainly introduced three aspects of his work: 1) the establishment of a DNA molecular network assembly strategy to synthesize the ultra-flexible DNA hydrogels, an design concept innovation of dynamic hydrogel; 2) the establishment of a DNA functional material construction strategy based on dendritic DNA construction motifs to realize the precise modular synthesis; 3) the application of DNA materials in high-efficiency separation and non-destructive delivery of biological particles, as well as the controllable and precise delivery of nucleic acid drugs and tumor treatment. By the detailed explanation above, Prof. Yang demonstrated the design of functional materials based on DNA self-assembly and its application in separation of biological particles, regulation of cell functions, controllable and precise delivery and tumor treatment. After the lecture, Prof. Yang had a lively discussion with relevant faculties and students, and gave valuable suggestions for their research work.

Dr. Yang Dayong is a Professor of the School of Chemical Engineering and Technology of Tianjin University, who is also an assistant to the Dean and a member of the academic committee of the Tianjin University. Dr. Yang got the bachelor’s and master’s degree in Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and the Ph.D from the National Nanoscience Center, and used to be a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University in the United States and Nijmegen University in Netherlands. He received funding from the National Overseas High-level Talents and Excellent Youth Projects of the National Foundation. His research team mainly focuses on the biological macromolecule DNA, especially the chemical assembly and intelligent manufacturing of DNA biological functional materials and their usage in life analysis and disease treatment. Recently, Prof. Yang published more than 60 papers in magazines such as Chem. Rev., J Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem., Nat. Commun., Nat. Protoc.., Prog. Polym. Sci., Nano Today, Biomaterials and Nano. Lett.. He won the second prize of Basic Research Achievement Award of Science and Technology Award of China Chemical Industry Society in 2021.