Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering
Biodesign Laboratory
Led by Jing Pan · Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
What we study
This lab designs tiny machines built from biological molecules and nanoscale parts, for use in biotechnology and medical tools such as biosensors.
What working here is like
- Wet lab
- Computational
- Building & testing
- Bacteria & microbes
- Cells in a dish
- Coding required
- Projects
- 2
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Human Bone Marrow Organoids: Their Role in Hematopoiesis and the Development of Sepsis
The lab creates bone‑marrow organoids from iPS cells to study blood‑cell formation and sepsis, optimizing the protocol and using 3D‑printed vessels to see shape effects. The student helped grow and refine the organoid cultures.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 555
Improving Luciferase Enzyme Function with Generative AI
Students used three AI models to suggest single‑amino‑acid changes to luciferase, built a focused mutant library, expressed the proteins in E. coli, and measured activity, stability, and light color. Several AI‑designed mutations performed better than the natural enzyme.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 522
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Photothermal Recycling Biosensing for Continuous, Sensitive Molecular Quantification
2026 · ACS Sensors
Develops a way to measure biochemical changes continuously in the body using light.
- Biosensors in dental, oral and craniofacial applications
2026 · npj Biosensing
Reviews biosensors that can monitor oral health continuously in patients.
Show 3 more papersShow fewer
- Rapid, Sensitive Detection of Protein Biomarkers in Minimally‐Processed Blood Products with a Monolithic Sandwich Immunoassay Reagent
2025 · Advanced Materials
Creates a fast, sensitive test to detect protein biomarkers in blood with no sample prep.
- Mechanical Modulation, Physiological Roles, and Imaging Innovations of Intercellular Calcium Waves in Living Systems
2025 · Cancers
Explores how mechanical signals affect intercellular calcium waves in living cells.
- Real‐Time Spatiotemporal Measurement of Extracellular Signaling Molecules Using an Aptamer Switch‐Conjugated Hydrogel Matrix (Adv. Mater. 4/2024)
2024 · Advanced Materials
Embeds fluorescent sensors in a gel to track cell signals in real time.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Jing Pan hasn't set up this page yet. You can also look them up in the UF directory (search “Jing Pan”).