On October 27th, 2016, the Member of United States National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for Advancement of Science and the distinguished Professor of Utah University, Prof. Cynthia J. Burrows visited Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) and was invited to give the ZHANG Dayu lecture (XXIII). The title of her lecture was “Using Nanopores to Interrogate DNA: Examining Base Modifications and Unfolding Dynamics in Single Molecules”. The lecture was hosted by Prof. Keli Han. Prof. Guowang Xu, the assistant director of DICP awarded Cynthia J. Burrows the “Zhang Dayu Lectureship” certificate and granted her as an honorary Professor of DICP.

Her lecture focuses on the chemical mechanisms of DNA modification. Her laboratory has characterized new oxidation products of guanosine and uncovered unusual biochemical phenomena related to DNA and RNA modification and repair. Recent focal points include the study of G-quadruplex-forming sequences in promoter and telomeric regions of the genome, the application of single-molecule methods to examine DNA modifications in protein nanopores, and an interest in DNA and RNA photochemistry relevant to the origins of life.

After the lecture, Prof. Cynthia J. Burrows visited the State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Laboratory of Aerospace Catalysts and New Materials and Laboratory of Biotechnology. She also has an active discussion with faculty and staff at DICP. (Text by DING Junxia, Photo by LI Huageng)