Ghufran is an Oppenheimer Early-Career Research Fellow in the Department of Biochemistry (with an affiliation with the Department of Chemistry). He holds a PhD in chemistry from McGill University and a BSc in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University.
Ghufran’s PhD research lay at the intersection of DNA nanotechnology and block copolymer science. He investigated the role of sequence in determining the self-assembly behavior of, and nanostructure formation from, sequence-defined DNA polymers. These biocompatible hybrid polymers have been used to create dynamic materials that respond to external stimuli, as well as nanostructures that exhibit direction-dependent behaviour and emergent properties extending beyond the capabilities of DNA or polymers alone, for applications in biology and therapeutics.
In the Protocell Lab at Cambridge, Ghufran is investigating the role of sequence in the emergence of translation, the process by which genetic information encoded in nucleic acids is used to synthesize proteins. The problem of the origin of translation is one of the key unanswered questions in the origins-of-life field.
