Lu Shin Wong graduated with a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Nottingham in 1997. He then practised as a hospital pharmacist for four years while completing his further professional training in clinical pharmacy. He subsequently undertook his PhD studies in organic and analytical chemistry at the University of Southampton with Prof. Mark Bradley. Upon completing this in 2005, he joined the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Jason Micklefield on the application of chemical biology and surface chemistry to biomolecular-array technologies. In 2008 Lu Shin was awarded an EPSRC Life Science Interface fellowship, which allowed him to join Prof. Chad A. Mirkin's laboratory at Northwestern University (USA). In 2011, he returned to the UK and was appointed as a lecturer at the Department of Chemistry.

Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

Member of the American Chemical Society (ACS)

Member of the Royal College of Pharmacy (RCP)

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA)

My research interests lie at the interface between biotechnology and materials science, with an emphasis on chemical molecular methods and approaches. The work in my laboratory is thus underpinned by synthetic chemistry (the synthesis of building blocks, linkers and enzyme substrates), molecular biology (the genetic engineering of recombinant proteins) and measurement science (the analysis and characterisation of biomolecules and materials). Our laboratory consists of a multinational and multidisciplinary team with backgrounds in chemistry, molecular biology, genetics, chemical engineering and materials science.

Briefly, the research activities in our group are currently divided into:

Protein Science. The study of natural and synthetic proteins, to understand mechanisms and structure; and to develop biologically-inspired processes for selective and sustainable chemical transformations.

Materials Processing. The development of engineered biocatalysts (i.e. enzymes) for the synthesis and break-down of polymeric materials.

We have previously worked on a wide array of biotechnological topics, and we continue to have some activities in these areas in collaboration with other partners. These include:

Protein Immobilisation. Applying methods for the attachment and trapping of proteins on materials and surfaces for a wide variety of applications (e.g. biomedical devices, biochemical reactors, sensors).

DNA Molecular Diagnostics. The development of methods for the detection of genes related to diseases in agricultural and human health.

Nanofabrication. The use of scanning probe methods together with chemical catalytic and biocatalytic methods for surface fabrication.

See a video of one of our research highlights on CAMERA's Youtube Channel.

Protein Science and Biocatalysis

Enzymes in silicon chemistry. Organosiloxanes are components in a huge variety of consumer products and play a role in the synthesis of fine chemicals. However, their synthetic manipulation primarily relies on the use of chlorosilanes, which are energy-intensive to produce and environmentally undesirable. Synthetic routes that operate under ambient conditions and circumvent the need for chlorinated feedstocks would therefore offer a more sustainable route for producing this class of compounds.

We are investigating the silicateins, a family of enzymes derived from a marine sponge that is able to catalyse the cleavage and formation of silicon-oxygen bonds. This research aims to understand their mechanism of action and develop them for applications in the chemical manipulation of silicon-containing materials. For example, we have demonstrated how the silicateins can be used to catalyse the formation of silicone polymers, and have studied the chemical pathways by which polymer assembly occurs. 

Sustainable oxidations and reductions are key to reducing the environmental impact of a range of chemical processes, from the synthesis of fine chemicals (e.g. pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals), to the breakdown of polymers for recycling.

We are researching enzymes that use readily available and safe oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide and air for chemical synthesis and electrochemical devices. For example, we have demonstrated the use of peroxidase enzymes for the oxidation of electron-rich aromatic molecules to their corresponding quinones, and their subsequent tandem reactions to generate more complex structures.

Selected Publications (For complete list, see Research Output tab)

1. T. Zhang, X. Wang, J. D. Wright, G. F. S. Whitehead, J. P. Tidey, L. S. Wong, I. A. Riddell. Enhanced stability and reusability of recombinant silicatein upon biomimetic metal–organic framework crystallization, Chem. Sci., 2026, 17, 3141. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sc05521k
2. Y. Lu, L. S. Wong. Product Distribution in the Silicatein-Catalysed Synthesis of Polydimethylsiloxane, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2026, 16, in press. https://doi.org/10.1039/d6cy00067c
3. M. Tehami, H. T. Imam, I. Abdullah, J. Hosford, X. J. Wong, N. A. Rahman, L. S. Wong. Biocatalytic Generation of o-Quinone Imines in the Synthesis of 1,4-Benzoxazines and Its Comparative Green Chemistry Metrics, ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng., 2024, 12, 2678. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c06758
4. S. Fruncillo, Y. T. Toh, C. F. Blanford, X. Su, H. Liu, L. S. Wong. Lithographic Patterning of Nanoscale Arrays of the Oxidase Enzyme CotA: Effects on Activity and Stability, Adv. Mater. Technol., 2022, 7, 2200490. https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202200490
5. J. Hosford, M. Valles, F. W. Krainer, A. Glieder, L. S. Wong. Parallelized Biocatalytic Scanning Probe Lithography for the Additive Fabrication of Conjugated Polymer Structures, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 7185. http://doi.org/10.1039/c8nr01283k
6. S. Y. Tabatabaei Dakhili, S. A. Caslin, A. S. Faponle, P. Quayle, S. P. de Visser, L. S. Wong. Recombinant Silicateins as Model Biocatalysts in Organosiloxane Chemistry, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 2017, 114, E5285. http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1613320114

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Our previous research is listed below, and we continue to have some activities in these areas in collaboration with other partners.

Nanofabrication

The fusion of ’top-down’ miniaturisation and ‘bottom-up’ synthesis remains a frontier area of nanotechnology research, with many applications in cell biology, molecular electronics and photonics. We have previously worked on soft nanolithographic methods that operate under ambient conditions such as dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) and polymer pen lithography (PPL), which are able to generate surfaces bearing nanoscale features with a variety of chemical properties. Notably, we use multi-probe methods enable the parallelised fabrication of large areas (many cm²) while maintaining nanoscale resolution.

Selected Publications (For complete list, see Research Output tab)

1. S. Fruncillo, Y. T. Toh, C. F. Blanford, X. Su, H. Liu, L. S. Wong. Lithographic Patterning of Nanoscale Arrays of the Oxidase Enzyme CotA: Effects on Activity and Stability, Adv. Mater. Technol., 2022, 7, 2200490. https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202200490
2. E. Rani, S. A. Mohshim, M. Z. Ahmad, R. Goodacre, S. A. Alang Ahmad, L. S. Wong. Polymer Pen Lithography-Fabricated DNA Arrays for Highly Sensitive and Selective Detection of Unamplified Ganoderma boninense DNA, Polymers, 2019, 11, 561. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11030561
3. J. Hosford, M. Valles, F. W. Krainer, A. Glieder, L. S. Wong. Parallelized Biocatalytic Scanning Probe Lithography for the Additive Fabrication of Conjugated Polymer Structures, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 7185. http://doi.org/10.1039/c8nr01283k
4. S. Wang, J. Hosford, W. P. Heath, L. S. Wong. Large-Area Scanning Probe Nanolithography Facilitated by Automated Alignment of Probe Arrays, RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 61402. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c5ra11967g
5. S. A. M. Carnally, L. S. Wong. Harnessing Catalysis to Enhance Scanning Probe Nanolithography, Nanoscale, 2014, 6, 4998. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c4nr00618f

Protein Immobilisation

We are interested in the approaches that allow covalent and site-specific protein attachment, which are needed at the nanometre size regime, where only a relatively small number of molecules will be immobilised and maximal activity will be crucial. Here, we have previously demonstrated the use of a phosphopantetheinyl transferase enzyme to catalyse the covalent immobilisation of proteins under mild physiological conditions, on to a variety of materials.

Selected Publications (For complete list, see Research Output tab)

1. S. Fruncillo, Y. T. Toh, C. F. Blanford, X. Su, H. Liu, L. S. Wong. Lithographic Patterning of Nanoscale Arrays of the Oxidase Enzyme CotA: Effects on Activity and Stability, Adv. Mater. Technol., 2022, 7, 2200490. https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202200490
2. L. S. Wong, K. Okrasa, J. Micklefield. Site-selective immobilisation of functional enzymes on to polystyrene nanoparticles, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2010, 8, 782. http://doi.org/10.1039/b916773k
3. L. S. Wong, F. Khan, J. Micklefield. Selective Covalent Protein Immobilization: Strategies and Applications, Chem. Rev., 2009, 109, 4025. http://doi.org/10.1021/cr8004668
4. L. S. Wong, J. L. Thirlway, J. Micklefield. Direct Site-Selective Covalent Protein Immobilization Catalyzed by a Phosphopantetheinyl Transferase, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2008, 130, 12456. http://doi.org/10.1021/ja8030278

DNA Molecular Diagnostics

There is an ongoing need for methods to detect infectious agents that are cheap, portable; and can be used without specialist training or equipment. Ideally such methods should also be sensitive, being able to detect very low concentrations of the infectious agent, in addition to being selective and able to differentiate closely related organisms. Here, we have researched the application of metallic nanoparticle aggregation upon DNA hybridisation as one such approach.

Selected Publications (For complete list, see Research Outputs tab)

1. E. Rani, S. A. Mohshim, N. H. Yusof, M. Z. Ahmad, R. Goodacre, S. A. Alang Ahmad, L. S. Wong. Sensitive and Selective Detection of DNA Fragments Associated with Ganoderma boninense by DNA-Nanoparticle Conjugate Hybridisation, J. Mater. Sci., 2020, 55, 14965. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05058-8
2. E. Rani, S. A. Mohshim, M. Z. Ahmad, R. Goodacre, S. A. Alang Ahmad, L. S. Wong. Polymer Pen Lithography-Fabricated DNA Arrays for Highly Sensitive and Selective Detection of Unamplified Ganoderma boninense DNA, Polymers, 2019, 11, 561. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11030561

Research Group(s)

• Biocatalysis
• Biotechnology
• Chemical Biology
• Efficient chemical synthesis
• Energy efficient processes
• Environmental remediation
• Materials Chemistry
• Organic materials and polymers
• Organic Synthesis
• Synthetic Biology