ESR 7 - Chun Yin (Jamie) Chan

Host: Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany

Country of origin: Hong Kong

Research: Chemical studies towards elucidation of the origin of the ribosome

The objective is to decipher the origin of the universal translation process by finding prebiotically plausible pathways that led to the formation of first primitive proto-ribosomes and later ribosome. The results of the project will decipher how life on earth emerged under early earth geothermal conditions.

Publications within NATURE-ETN

Müller, F., Escobar, L., Xu, F., Wegrzyn, E., Nainyte, M., Amatov, T., Chan, C.-Y., Pichler, A., and Carell, T. A prebiotically plausible scenario of an RNA–peptide world. Nature 605, 279–284 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04676-3

Scientific background:

Jamie has received a Bachelor of Science in Applied Chemistry with first class honor from City University of Hong Kong in 2018, where he completed the Bachelor Thesis in Kwok Research Group about the intrinsic fluorescence of bulged G-quadruplex. He continues his research on RNA structure and SELEX as a research assistant for the following year in the Kwok Lab and invented the first G-quadruplex specific L-RNA aptamer before he joined the Carell group in LMU Munich as a PhD student and researcher in NATURE-ETN.

List of publications:

Amino Acid Modified RNA Bases as Building Blocks of an Early Earth RNA-Peptide World. M. Nainyté, F. Müller, G. Ganazzoli, C.-Y. Chan, A. Crisp, D. Globisch & T. Carell. Chem. Eur. J. 2020. Advanced Article (DOI: 10.1002/chem.202002929)
Specific Binding of a D-RNA G-quadruplex Structure with an L-RNA Aptamer. C.-Y. Chan (First Author) & C. K. Kwok. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020. Advanced Article. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201914955
G-Quadruplex-Based Fluorescent Turn-On Ligands and Aptamers: From Development to Applications. M. I. Umar, D. Ji, C.-Y. Chan (co-First Author) & C. K. Kwok. Molecules. 2019 13:2416 (DOI: 10.3390/molecules241324316)
Spectroscopic Analysis Reveals the Effect of Single Nucleotide Bulge on G-Quadruplex Structures. C. -Y. Chan (co-First Author), M. I. Umar & C. K. Kwok. Chem. Comm. 2019 55:2616-2619 (DOI: 10.1039/C8CC09929D)
Structural Analysis and Cellular Visualization of APP RNA G-quadruplex. K. Lyu, S.-B. Chen, C.-Y, Chan, J.-H. Tan & C. K. Kwok. Chem. Sci. 2019 10:11095-11102 (DOI: 10.1039/C9SC02768H)
Structural Analysis Reveals Formation and Role of RNA G-Quadruplex Structures in Human Mature MicroRNAs. K. L. Chan, B. Peng, M. I. Umar, C.-Y. Chan, A. B. Sahakyan, A. B. Le & C. K. Kwok. Chem. Comm. 2018 54:10878-10881 (DOI: 10.1039/C8CC04635B)
A Cancer Cell-Selective and Low-Toxic Bifunctional Heterodinuclear Pt(IV)-Ru(II) Anticancer Prodrug. L. Ma, X. Lin, C. Li, Z. Xu, C.-Y. Chan, M. -K. T, P. Shi & G. Zhu. Inorg. Chem. 2018 57:2917-2924 (DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.8b00053)

Personal background:

Jamie is a molecular biologist who comes from Hong Kong and looks forward to his stay in Europe. He also likes to read about politics and astrophysics in his free time but without career plans (well….). He likes hiking, watching movies and playing badminton.