Xing Wang

Associate Professor

(217) 333-9278

xingw@illinois.edu

0250 Everitt Laboratory

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Education

New York University, Ph.D., 2009

Biography

Dr. Xing Wang received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from New York University. He did his postdoctoral training at Princeton University to mainly explore novel functions of synthetic RNAs in genome editing. Dr. Wang received the Mikashi Award in 2021, was selected as a Fellow of Y Combinator (YC) Founder Cohort that same year, and earned the Spoke Award (CZ BioHub) in 2024. Dr. Wang is the co-founder of a startup company, Atom Bioworks Inc., where he currently serves as a scientific advisor. His team's DNA Machine Demo was selected by TechCrunch as one of the best projects in the Y Combinator’s W21 Demo Day event. Before joining UIUC, Dr. Wang was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Academic Positions

Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry, Holonyak Micro & Nanotechnology Laboratory (MNTL), Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB), Center for Genomic Diagnostics (CGD), Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2024-present
Research Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2022-2024
Research Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Holonyak Micro & Nanotechnology Laboratory (MNTL), Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB), Center for Genomic Diagnostics (CGD), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2019-2024
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS), Biochemistry and Biophysics Program (BCBP), Center for Materials, Devices, and Integrated Systems (cMDIS), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2014-2019

Documents

Major Consulting Activities

Scientific Advisor and co-Founder, Atom Bioworks Inc., Cary, NC, 2020-present

Professional Registrations

American Chemical Society, 2003-present
International Society for Nanoscale Science, Computation and Engineering, 2003-present
Materials Research Society, 2020-present

Research Statement

Dr. Xing Wang is a bioengineer and biochemist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). His research group utilizes nucleic acids and protein engineering and chemistry to evolve new molecular binders, and create and customize designer DNA nanostructure-based “plug-and-play” platforms for bioengineering, bionanotechnology, and biochemical applications centered on healthcare. He also has training in RNA-mediated genome programming and cellular engineering, and RNA chemistry and biology. His group invented the DNA Star, DNA Net, DNA NanoGripper, and Cocktail Aptamer platforms and strategies, and conceived and patented the concept of pattern-recognition enabled multivalent, molecular interactions for the development of advanced disease diagnostics and therapeutics (Nat. Chem., 2020; Nat. Protoc., 2022; J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2023, 2024, 2025; Anal. Chem., 2024; Sci. Robot., 2024; Adv. Funct. Mater., 2025; Adv. Sci., 2025). Dr. Wang's Nucleic Acids Programming Lab (NAPL) is funded to advance translational research in: (1) creating and developing ultrasensitive and low-cost biosensors for rapid, simple, and amplification-free disease diagnostics across point-of-care, home-/self-testing, in-field/on-farm, and laboratory-based high-throughput settings, (2) creating effective therapeutic candidates and targeted drug/mRNA delivery platforms for cancer treatment and immunotherapy, as well as for the inhibition and prevention of viral infections, (3) establishing machine learning, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulations pipeline to rapidly obtain new ligands for disease diagnostics and targeted drug delivery, and (4) designing molecular barcodes for multiplex, high resolution biosensing and imaging. His research group is primarily supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Research Interests

Protein Engineering
Bionanotechnology
Biosensing and Biomedicine
Designer DNA Nanostructure
Nucleic Acids Engineering

Research Areas

Biomolecular engineering
Bionanotechnology
Biophotonics
Biosensors
Biotechnology
Cell and molecular engineering
Nanomaterials
Nanomedicine
Nanosensors
Point-of-care diagnostics

Research Topics

Research Honors

DNA Machine Demo was selected by TechCrunch as a best project in the Y Combinators W21 Demo Day event (YC) (2021)
Fellow of Y Combinator Founder Cohort (YC) (2021)
Mikashi Award (UIUC) (2021)
Spoke Award (CZ BioHub Chicago) (2024)