Research Summary

The Mou Lab develops chemical biology tools to investigate RNA biology, map spatial information of biomacromolecules, and advance RNA-related technologies. By integrating molecular tool development with biosensing, mRNA therapeutics, and high-fidelity gene editing, our research aims to uncover complex biological mechanisms and translate discoveries into applications for disease detection and treatment.

Keywords

Chemical Biology; RNA Biology; Spatial Biomacromolecule Mapping; mRNA Therapeutics; High-Fidelity Gene Editing

Biography

Quanbing Mou joined the Chemistry faculty at Rice University in 2024 and holds the Kenneth S. Pitzer-Schlumberger Junior Faculty Chair. He earned his B.E. degree in Polymer Science and Engineering from Sichuan University and then enrolled in the Ph.D. program at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His thesis work, supervised by Profs. Deyue Yan, Xinyuan Zhu, and Chuan Zhang, involved research on nucleoside analog-containing precise nanodrugs for cancer therapy. In 2018, he joined Prof. Yi Lu’s laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as a postdoctoral researcher. There, he specialized in engineering functional nucleic acid-based biosensors for metal ion detection and developing in-situ biosensors to image metabolites and bioproducts in plants. In 2021, he moved to the University of Texas at Austin with Prof. Yi Lu, where he explored new research areas, including engineering CRISPR/Cas systems for biosensing and biomedical applications, developing a super-resolution imaging technique for metal ion detection in living systems, and creating innovative caging strategies for functional nucleic acid-based biosensing. At Rice University, his group’s research interests span chemical biology, analytical chemistry, and bioengineering, with the aim of understanding nucleic acids in biological systems and promoting their applications in biosensing, as well as in disease detection and treatment.