Research Areas

The Zheng research group mainly works on microfluidics and cell-free synthetic biology. In microfluidics, we focus on developing new techniques in bioanalysis using droplet microfluidics or microarray technology. In synthetic biology, we are interested in hydrogel based artificial cells, and the applications in protein synthesis, metabolic engineering, biosensors, and etc.

Highlights

Dr. Zheng has been developing microfluidic techniques for bioanalysis and made major achievements in the research fields of droplet microfluidics, microarray, and chemical sensor. In recent years, Dr. Zheng has also developed a new hydrogel based artificial cell system, which provides an effective platform for many applications, including in vitro protein synthesis, metabolic engineering, biosensor, and etc. Dr. Zheng has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers with over 6000 citations.

Selected Publications

1. S. Qian, H. Wu, B. Huang, Q. Liu, Y. Chen, B. Zheng* "Bead-free Digital Immunoassays on Polydopamine Patterned Perfluorinated Surfaces" Sens. Actuators B Chem., 2021, 345, 130341

2. X. Ouyang, X. Zhou, S. N. Lai, Q. Liu, B. Zheng* "Immobilization of Proteins of Cell Extract to Hydrogel Networks Enhances the Longevity of Cell-Free Protein Synthesis and Supports Gene Networks" ACS Synth. Biol., 2021, 10, 749

3. Q. Liu, X. Zhou, H. Wu, B. Zheng* "Blocking-free and Self-contained Immunoassay Platform for One-step Point-of-care Testing" Biosens. Bioelectron., 2020, 165， 112394

4. H. Wu, L. Wu, X. Zhou, B. Liu, B. Zheng* "Patterning Hydrophobic Surfaces by Negative Microcontact Printing and Its Applications" Small, 2018, 14, 1802128

5. X. Zhou, H. Wu, M. Cui, S. N. Lai, B. Zheng* "Long-lived protein expression in hydrogel particles: towards artificial cells" Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 4275