Daniel Herschlag

PhD in Biochemistry (Brandeis University)

The overarching goal of the Herschlag lab is to understand the chemical and physical principles that underlie biology. These principles are needed to understand how biology works and how it evolved, as the fundamental physical and chemical properties of biomolecules enable and constrain biological function and evolution. This understanding will ultimately permit precise and impactful molecular manipulation for engineering and therapy. The lab is highly interdisciplinary and collaborative and is working toward a predictive understanding of RNA folding, defining the rules that determine RNA/protein interactions in vitro and in cells –and how those interactions are used in regulating gene expression. The lab is also developing and applying new technologies to understand –and ultimately harness– the enormous catalytic power of enzymes. The lab’s research has broad implications for evolution and the function, and for cellular regulation and misregulation.