Irene A. Chen

Irene A. Chen is a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research focuses on biochemistry, biophysics, structural and computational biology, systems biology, and biological regulation. She holds a B.A. in chemistry and an M.D.-Ph.D. in biophysics from Harvard. Her work explores the molecular mechanisms underlying biological processes and their regulation. For more information, visit her profile page at https://www.chemistry.ucla.edu/directory/chen-irene/.

Irene A. Chen is a researcher at UCLA with expertise in biomolecular design, minimal synthetic cells, biomolecular evolution, bacteriophage, and nanotechnology. Her work explores the creation and evolution of synthetic biological systems, including protocells and RNA-based replication mechanisms. Chen's research includes the study of fatty acid vesicles, RNA catalysis, and the development of phage-based therapies for bacterial infections. She also investigates the evolutionary dynamics of RNA and the potential for genetic information transfer from RNA to DNA. Her contributions span both fundamental and applied research in synthetic biology and nanotechnology.