The Lu Chen laboratory (luchenlab.org) studies molecular secrets underlying all things RNA biology – how RNAs are chemically modified, how their exact molecular forms are precisely defined, and how they cooperate with proteins to carry out molecular functions at specific cellular locations. We are translating our basic science discoveries into novel therapeutic options to combat cancer immortality, stem cell exhaustion, and degenerative diseases. We use diverse approaches, including protein-RNA reconstitution, Next-gen RNA structural profiling (icSHAPE-seq, nascent RNA-seq), CRISPR-engineering of human primary stem cell and mouse models, and single-molecule RNA imaging.