Research Trajectory - Yu-Ting Sun
🔬 Physics Foundation
Spatial confinement
From PhD, Postdoc 1+
🛠️ Technical Platform
Microfluidics, single-molecule imaging
From Postdoc 1-2+
🧬 Biological Insight
DNA-protein interaction, protein-protein interactions
From Postdoc 2=
🎯 Integrated Platform
How do genome-accessing machineries — replication, recombination, and transcription — compete for chromatinized DNA under physical constraints?
Future Applications2026-2030
FUTURE
🎯 Complete Integration
🔬 Question: How do multiple genome-accessing machineries compete for the same chromatin substrate — and how do spatial constraints shape the outcome of this competition?
🧬 Focus: Kinetic grammar of protein traffic on chromatinized DNA, connecting replication initiation, homologous recombination, and transcription dynamics.
🛠️ Tools: Single Molecule Techniques, Micro/Nanofluidics
📚 Knowledge: Polymer Physics, Biophysics, Molecule Biology
2021-2025
POSTDOC 2
🔬 DNA-Protein Interactions
🧬 System: Recombinase with DNA/RNA Interaction
🔬 Focus: Multi-step kinetic dissection of recombinase assembly
📄 Publications: Manuscript in prep (2026), Nature Communications (2024)
🛠️ Tools: FRET, CoSMoS
📚 Knowledge: Homologue Recombination, DNA/RNA-recombinase
2011-2012
POSTDOC 1
🌉 From Physics to Biology
🧬 System: RecA-DNA filament in Microchannel
🔬 Focus: Spatial Confinement
💡 Key Insight: RecA as both tool (DNA stiffening) and subject (protein-DNA recognition)
🛠️ Tools: Fluorescence Microscopy, Microchannel
The Pivot: RecA bridges physics and biology – it stiffens DNA (persistence length: 50nm → 950nm) while becoming a research subject itself.
2008-2010
PhD
🧱 Foundation
🧬 System: DNA under Spatial Constraints (Vesicle-DNA)
🔍 Discovery: DNA Internal Friction, Topological Complexity
📄 Publications: Physical Review Letters (2010) - Cover Story, Soft Matter (2011) - Inside Front Cover
🛠️ Tools: Fluorescence Microscopy, RICM