PhD Xiaoling Wang

RESEARCH

Genome editing based on programmable nucleases permits “rewriting” genomic sequences in living cells for creating gene knockouts, or, in the presence of exogenous DNA, gene knock-ins. RNA-programmable nickases by inducing single-stranded DNA breaks instead of double-stranded DNA breaks, are substantially less disruptive to the genome when compared to nucleases. My research aims at identifying efficient and precise genome editing strategies based on RNA-programmable nickases and viral vector systems; and studying the structural integrity (or lack thereof) of genomic sequences in cells exposed to these genome editing strategies.

CV

From 2015 to 2017, I worked at BGI Genomics as a wet-lab technician and dry-lab data analyst on a non-invasive prenatal testing project based on next generation sequencing (NGS) technology. From 2017 to 2021, I did my M.Sc. study at the BGI Education Center, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, during which I focused on identifying important transcription factors during the embryonic development of an Amphioxus species using NGS analyses of mRNA expression and chromosomal accessibility. After graduation, I worked at BGI Genomics, providing international clients with technical support for COVID-19 genome assembly projects based on amplicon sequencing. In February 2022, I started my Ph.D. programme supported by a CSC-LU scholarship (awarded in 2021) under the supervision of Dr. Manuel Gonçalves at the department of Cell and Chemical biology of the Leiden University Medical Center.