Runwen Yao, Ph.D. Biomolecular condensates at the mesoscale
How condensate organization gives rise to cellular function.
Cells organize biochemical reactions not only through membrane-bound organelles, but also through biomolecular condensates that structure cellular space. These condensates exhibit mesoscale organization, where internal structure encodes biochemical function.
I study how their mesoscale organization emerges and governs cellular processes by integrating cell biology, biochemistry, and quantitative biophysics with advanced imaging.
Scientific trajectory
My work began with dissecting how nucleolar mesoscale organization controls pre-rRNA biogenesis, and revealed that condensate architecture is actively regulated, for example by long noncoding RNAs.
I now focus on how condensate size and internal organization regulate biochemical behavior, particularly how size-dependent constraints and molecular organization shape reaction efficiency and accessibility.
In parallel, I develop and apply quantitative imaging, in vitro reconstitution, and single-molecule approaches to directly probe condensate organization and dynamics.
