PhD defence
Tools for real-time study of bioorthogonal conversions in the living system
- Y. Wang
- Date
- Wednesday 25 March 2026
- Time
- Location
-
Academy Building
Rapenburg 73
2311 GJ Leiden
Supervisor(s)
Summary
Just like humans, the tiny cells in our bodies need to take in nutrients to function and fight off diseases. However, studying how individual cells "eat" has always been incredibly difficult.
To solve this, our research developed special "glow-in-the-dark" chemical tools. We placed a dark, quenched chemical tag inside specific parts of a living cell, such as its power plant (mitochondria) or control center (nucleus). We then marked basic nutrients with a matching chemical key. When the cell consumes that nutrient, the two parts click together safely inside the cell, instantly turning on a bright fluorescent light.
Through this method, we successfully demonstrated that we can watch exactly when, where, and how much food a single cell consumes in real-time.
These findings are highly special. Traditional methods require destroying millions of cells mixed together to study their contents. In contrast, our tools allow scientists to spy on the unique eating habits of individual, intact living cells and see exactly which tiny organs the nutrients enter.
This research has vital social relevance. Changes in how cells handle their internal chemistry are deeply connected to many diseases, including cancer. By providing a clear window into these unseen cellular processes, our new tools give researchers a powerful way to uncover how diseases develop, paving the way for smarter, more targeted medical treatments in the future.
PhD dissertations
Approximately one week after the defence, PhD dissertations by Leiden PhD students are available digitally through the Leiden Repository, that offers free access to these PhD dissertations. Please note that in some cases a dissertation may be under embargo temporarily and access to its full-text version will only be granted later.
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General information
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