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KAIST Reveals How the Light-Responsive Molecular Switch Azobenzene Changes Shape
Azobenzene is one of the best-known molecules that can be switched between two forms by light. However, the question of how the molecule moves in the first few picoseconds (trillionths of a second) after it absorbs light has remained unresolved for nearly 50 years. A Korean research team has now shown that, during the initial stage of the reaction, the molecule changes shape through a coordinated motion of the two nitrogen atoms at its center, while its two benzene rings stay nearly in place. The finding is expected to provide useful information for designing materials and molecular-scale machines that operate with light.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on October 1 that a research team led by Hyotcherl Ihee, Professor in the Department of Chemistry at KAIST and Director of the Center for Advanced Reaction Dynamics (CARD) at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, President Sukbok Chang), has identified the process by which the light-responsive molecule azobenzene changes its structure.
Azobenzene consists of two benzene rings connected by a central linkage of two nitrogen atoms. When it absorbs light, the molecule can change from a form in which the two rings are on opposite sides of the linkage (the trans form) to a form in which they are on the same side (the cis form). The molecule keeps the same atoms, and only their positions change. Researchers have used this property to control the activity of drugs with light and to develop light-responsive materials and molecular machines.
However, the structures of the molecule before and after the change do not show how it moves between the two forms. Researchers have proposed different explanations. Some suggested that the two rings rotate significantly, some that the central linkage straightens, and others that several parts of the molecule twist together. The question has been difficult to resolve because the structures that form during the reaction exist for too short a time to be observed directly.
The research team used the X-ray free-electron laser at the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (PAL-XFEL) to observe these structures. The researchers first started the reaction by irradiating azobenzene dissolved in methanol with a laser. They then measured how its structure changed over time using ultrafast X-ray pulses.
The main challenge was to detect the weak signal from azobenzene, which was obscured by the much stronger signal from the surrounding solvent. The team separated the two signals using an analysis method that mathematically removes the contribution of the solvent. Based on the measurements taken at each point in time, the researchers then reconstructed the motion of the molecule as a movie.
The results showed that azobenzene does not change shape by rotating its two large benzene rings significantly at the same time. Instead, the reaction begins with torsion about the carbon–nitrogen bonds. During this initial motion, the central nitrogen linkage moves in a coordinated motion, similar to the way the two pedals of a bicycle move, and this changes the overall shape of the molecule.
This finding helps explain why the reaction rate does not change significantly even when the surrounding liquid becomes more viscous. If the molecule had to rotate its two large rings, it would need to displace a large volume of the surrounding liquid. Because the motion occurs mainly in the central part of the molecule, much less liquid needs to be displaced.
"This study shows the pathway by which azobenzene changes its shape after it absorbs light," said Professor Hyotcherl Ihee. He added that the team expects the work to help researchers understand how a wide range of light-responsive molecules work, because it improves methods for observing the motion of organic molecules that react rapidly.
The study did not directly improve the performance of drugs or materials that use azobenzene. Its significance is that it identifies the pathway the molecule actually follows as it moves. This provides basic data that researchers can refer to when they design light-responsive materials and molecular machines.
Dr. Jungmin Kim and Dr. Hosung Ki, who both received their degrees from KAIST and are now at IBS, are co-first authors of the study. The findings were published online in the international journal Nature on September 30 (UK time).
Paper title: X-ray liquidography decodes complex motions in azobenzene isomerization,
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-11068-4
This research was supported by the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) Research Center Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT.
2026.10.02 View 908 -
KAIST Develops a Strategy to Balance Radical Generation and Catalyst Regeneration, Enabling Challenging Chemical Reactions
Radicals, atoms or molecules that readily react with other substances to form new bonds, are useful tools for building complex substances such as pharmaceuticals. But even when a radical is generated efficiently, the reaction cannot continue unless the catalyst returns to its original state. A KAIST research team has developed a new strategy that balances radical generation and catalyst regeneration, broadening the possibility of using even substrates that are difficult to activate to synthesize the complex molecules needed for pharmaceuticals and other applications.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on September 20 that a research team led by Professor Sarah Yunmi Lee from the Department of Chemistry has developed a method that uses a ligand, a molecule that attaches to a metal catalyst and controls its properties, to effectively regulate the process by which a copper catalyst generates a radical and then returns to its original state.
The team used a cyclopropenimine (CPI)-based ligand to tune the copper catalyst’s redox behavior, helping it generate radicals and return to its active state.
In this study, the team used tertiary alkyl halides, compounds where bromine or chlorine is attached to a tertiary carbon center, as starting materials. When the copper catalyst breaks this bond, a highly reactive radical is generated, and this radical then forms a new carbon–carbon bond with another part of the same molecule, creating a ring-shaped structure. The process is similar to tying the two loose ends of a string together to form a loop. This is called a radical cyclization reaction.
When the team compared several types of ligands, they found that that generating more radicals did not necessarily lead to more of the desired product. Some ligands were very effective at generating radicals but produced almost none of the final product.
The best-performing CPI-based ligand, however, allowed radical generation and catalyst regeneration to proceed in balance. If the catalyst is compared to a worker performing a task repeatedly, the CPI ligand acts as a helper that lets the worker move on to the next task without stopping after finishing one.
As a result, the team synthesized in high yields 3,3-disubstituted oxindoles, compounds with a ring framework relevant to medicinal chemistry used in pharmaceuticals and bioactive substances.
Notably, substrates bearing bromine reacted efficiently even at room temperature. The team also succeeded in reacting substrates with strong carbon-chlorine bonds that do not break easily. This demonstrated that even tertiary alkyl chlorides, which had previously been difficult to handle, can now be used to synthesize a range of oxindole compounds that were difficult to make before.
The key finding of this study is that generating radicals well is not enough on its own. Rather than simply raising the reactivity of a single step, the team showed that balancing the entire catalytic cycle, including both radical generation and catalyst regeneration, makes it possible to design more efficient catalysts and extend the approach to new reactions.
This principle could expand the range of challenging substrates available for chemical synthesis. It may also help researchers develop more efficient methods for constructing complex molecules relevant to pharmaceuticals and other bioactive compounds under milder conditions.
Professor Sarah Yunmi Lee said, " This study shows that efficient radical generation alone is not sufficient and that the different processes within a catalytic cycle must proceed in balance." She added, "We expect this approach can be applied to the development of new radical-based catalytic reactions that make use of challenging substrates that have previously been difficult to activate."
The study, with Sarah Jang, a student in the integrated master’s–PhD program in the Department of Chemistry at KAIST, and Seongryeol Jeung, who earned a master’s degree at Yonsei University, as co-first authors, and with Sumin Kim, an integrated master's and PhD student in the Department of Chemistry at KAIST, also participating, was published online on August 3 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), an international journal published by the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Paper title: Cyclopropenimine-Enabled Redox Control in Copper-Catalyzed Radical Cyclization to 3,3-Disubstituted Oxindoles
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6c09015
Author information: Sarah Jang (KAIST, co-first author), Seongryeol Jeung (Yonsei University, co-first author), Sumin Kim (KAIST, third author), Sarah Yunmi Lee (KAIST, corresponding author)
This research was supported by the Samsung Science and Technology Foundation under Project SSTF-BA2202-06.
2026.09.21 View 2490 -
KAIST Professor Sunkyu Han Becomes the First Korean Member of the Board of Editors of Organic Syntheses
For more than a century, Organic Syntheses has served as a unique platform beyond conventional peer reviewed journal: before publishing a procedure, its editors personally repeat the experiment in their laboratory to confirm that another chemist's submitted method actually works as reported. Professor Sunkyu Han from KAIST’s Department of Chemistry has now become the first Korean chemist elected as a member of the Board of Editors of Organic Syntheses.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on September 11 that Professor Han has been elected as a member of the Board of Editors of Organic Syntheses at the Organic Syntheses corporate meeting, held in Chicago on August 23.
During his five-year term, Professor Han will participate to identify, solicit, and select work for publication in Organic Syntheses. He will also check synthetic procedures submitted by other researchers in his own laboratory to experimentally confirm their reliability and reproducilibity. His term may be extended for up to three additional years.
Founded in 1921, Organic Syntheses follows a publishing model unlike that of most academic journals. A synthetic procedure is published only after the member of the Board of Editors has successfully reproduced it in their laboratory and confirmed the submitted results. The journal is currently led by Editor-in-Chief Professor Rick Danheiser from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Because each procedure undergoes rigorous experimental scrutiny, including the checking of its yield, selectivity, and purification process, the methods published in Organic Syntheses are widely regarded as trusted reference protocols by organic chemists around the world.
The role of a member of the Board of Editors of Organic Syntheses therefore extends well beyond conventional editors. Editors must check other researchers’ procedures and attest to their reliability, a responsibility requiring exceptional scientific judgment and experimental rigor. Over the journal’s history, many of the world’s most distinguished organic chemists have served in this capacity.
The Board of Editors currently comprises 14 members, including the Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors, and has traditionally included two chemists based in Asia. Distinguished scholars from Japan, China, and Hong Kong have served on the board, among them Ryoji Noyori, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Professor Han, however, is the first Korean chemist elected as a member of the Board of Editors. He will succeed Professor Pauline Chiu of the University of Hong Kong, whose term concludes later this year.
“Professor Sunkyu Han’s election as the first Korean member of the Board of Editors is a significant achievement that reflects both KAIST’s strength in basic science and the growing international stature of Korean organic chemistry,” said KAIST President Choongsik Bae. “KAIST will continue to support its researchers not only for making outstanding discoveries, but also in strengthening the reliability and advancing the frontiers of knowledge across the global academic community.”
Since its founding, Organic Syntheses has published approximately 3,100 articles. Among them, nine have been contributed by organic chemists based in Korea, four of them by KAIST faculty members.
Professor Han’s appointment will also enable KAIST’s Department of Chemistry to host the Organic Syntheses Distinguished Lecture Series during his tenure. Sponsored by Organic Syntheses, Inc., the program will bring internationally renowned organic chemists to KAIST, creating more opportunities for students and early-career researchers to engage directly with leading scholars in the field.
Professor Han is internationally recognized for his work on the chemical synthesis of complex natural products. Since joining KAIST in 2014, he has completed the synthesis of numerous structurally complex alkaloids isolated from Securinega suffruticosa, a medicinal plant native to Korea.
Recently, he has built on this expertise to expand his research into molecular photoswitches, which use light to control molecular structure and function. He is also developing anticancer agents and potential treatments for neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, using synthetic derivatives of natural products.
Since June 2025, Professor Han has also served as an Associate Editor of Organic Letters, another leading international journal in the field of organic chemistry.
“Ever since I was a student, I have relied on reactions and procedures published in Organic Syntheses and felt a profound sense of gratitude toward the chemists who personally checked those procedures and turned them into methods the broader community could trust. I have been given this opportunity thanks to everything I have learned while working alongside outstanding group members and colleagues at KAIST. I am deeply grateful to everyone who has supported me throughout that journey, as well as to the university,” said Professor Han.
He added, “I hope to follow in the footsteps of the eminent chemists who helped shape the foundation of modern organic chemistry, including Roger Adams, George Büchi, Arthur Cope, Albert Eschenmoser, Ronald Breslow, and E. J. Corey. By faithfully and diligently carrying out my responsibilities as a member of the Board of Editors of Organic Syntheses, I hope to build a body of reliable chemical knowledge that serves chemists worldwide and contributes to the continued advancement of organic chemistry.”
2026.09.11 View 2672 -
Weak Hydrogen Bonds Dethrone Copper's Stability, Opening a New Path for Ion Selection
Copper has been knocked off the top of a stability ranking it had dominated for decades. Without altering the atoms directly bonded to the metal, a KAIST research team reversed the longstanding trend in which copper generally forms the most stable complexes by tuning only the weak hydrogen bonds in its surrounding environment. The findings could open new avenues for selective metal separation and recognition, as well as catalyst design.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on September 6 that a research team led by Professor Yunjung Baek of the Department of Chemistry developed a "metal complex"—a structure in which several molecules surround and bond to a central metal— using a ligand based on the flavin framework found in vitamin B2. By tuning the hydrogen bonding around the metal, the team achieved a stability trend that runs opposite to the widely accepted Irving–Williams series.
The Irving–Williams series is an empirical rule that ranks how stably transition metals—such as iron, nickel, and copper, which bond with other substances in a variety of ways—bind to surrounding molecules. Among manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn), stability is generally known to increase moving from manganese toward copper, with copper forming particularly stable bonds.
This difference has been understood to arise from each metal's electronic structure, meaning how its electrons are arranged. In other words, which metal forms the more stable complex has long been considered largely determined by the metal's own inherent properties.
Until now, changing this order typically required either designing a new ligand, the molecule that directly grips the metal, or altering the coordination structure, the way the metal bonds with surrounding molecules.
The research team instead focused on hydrogen bonding, a force that acts outside the direct metal bonding region. Hydrogen bonds are relatively weak forces between molecules that help hold the surrounding structure in a fixed shape.
Using flavin derivatives, versions of flavin with part of their chemical structure modified, the team incorporated different metals ranging from manganese to zinc, while ensuring that all the metals shared the same basic coordination geometry. By keeping the basic conditions around each metal identical, the researchers were able to examine what difference hydrogen bonding alone made to each metal's stability.
The results showed that hydrogen bonding specifically blocks the structural change copper needs to become stable. Copper has a distinctive tendency to slightly reshape its surrounding bonding structure into a form that favors its own stability, much like a person shifting slightly to find the most comfortable posture.
In the structure developed by the team, however, the surrounding hydrogen-bonded framework constrained the geometry around copper, preventing it from adopting its preferred distorted structure. As a result, copper lost much of the additional stabilization it would normally gain through structural distortion, producing what the researchers describe as an anti–Irving–Williams trend.
What matters most is not simply that copper was displaced from the top of the ranking, but that the study demonstrated the relative stability of metal complexes, long regarded as being largely determined by the intrinsic properties of each metal, can be adjusted by changing the surrounding environment. For example, if a desired metal can be made to bond more strongly while others bond more weakly within a mixture, the principle could provide a basis for developing systems that selectively extract or recover target metals.
This principle could also be applied to catalyst design, where the surrounding environment is tuned so that a desired metal performs more effectively. Just as proteins and enzymes in the human body select the metal they need from among iron, copper, zinc, and others, the approach is also expected to offer a new method for designing biomimetic systems that replicate the operating principles of living organisms to achieve a desired function.
Professor Yunjung Baek said, "The key point of this study is not simply that we lowered copper's stability, but that we showed the order of bonding stability, long regarded as an inherent property of each metal, can be changed through the surrounding environment." She added that the approach is expected to be used to design new chemical systems that selectively capture or react with a desired metal.
The research also drew attention at the International Conference on Coordination Chemistry (ICCC), held in Denmark. Haneul Im, a combined master's and PhD student in KAIST's Department of Chemistry and the study's first author, presented the work as a poster and was the only Korean student to receive a Best Poster Award. The study, with Haneul Im as first author, was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) on September 3. JACS published by the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Paper title: When Copper Falls: Overriding the Irving–Williams Stability Trend through Outer-Sphere Hydrogen Bonding,
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6c10430
Author information: Haneul Im (KAIST, first author), Neetu Singh (KAIST, joint second author), Seogyeon Kwon (IBS, joint second author), Changhyeon Seo (KAIST, third author), Nak-Kwan Chung (KRISS, fourth author), and Yunjung Baek (KAIST, corresponding author). Six authors in total.
This work was supported by the Young Scientist Grants program of the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT).
2026.09.07 View 2853 -
Next-Generation Biological Foundation Model, K-Fold
“Design a drug candidate that binds effectively to this protein.”
In response to such a request, AI predicts the protein’s three-dimensional structure, analyzes which compounds are most likely to bind to it, and designs promising drug candidates. KAIST researchers have developed K-Fold, the world's fastest Bio-AI model for protein structure prediction, which also supports drug candidate design.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on August 28 that it had formed “Team KAIST” after being selected as the lead institution for the Ministry of Science and ICT’s “AI Specialized Foundation Model Project” and unveiled K-Fold, a next-generation Bio-AI model developed by Team KAIST.
Team KAIST is led by Professor Woo Youn Kim from the Department of Chemistry. His research group, together with Professors Sung Ju Hwang and Sungsoo Ahn's groups at the Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, developed the AI model. Professors Byung-Ha Oh, Ho Min Kim, and Gyuri Lee from the Department of Biological Sciences oversaw protein data construction and validation. HITS, a KAIST faculty startup, integrated K-Fold into HyperLab, its web-based AI research platform, enabling researchers to use the model in real-world research workflows. In addition, the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA) and the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization (KoreaBIO) will lead efforts to raise awareness of K-Fold’s achievements and promote its use across the industry.
K-Fold’s defining capability is its ability to predict the binding between proteins and drug candidates—a critical step in drug discovery.
Drug development begins with determining the structure of a disease-related protein and identifying, among numerous compounds, those most likely to bind to the protein and produce the desired effect. K-Fold not only predicts a protein’s three-dimensional structure, but also calculates where and how a drug candidate is likely to bind, helping researchers identify promising candidates more quickly.
K-Fold goes beyond predicting the structure of a single protein. It can also predict the structures formed when different biomolecules interact, including protein–protein and protein–drug candidate complexes, as well as complexes involving DNA and RNA.
In the project’s stage evaluation conducted in March, its accuracy in predicting molecular complex structures was assessed as approaching that of AlphaFold3, developed by Google DeepMind. In an in-house performance evaluation conducted by the research team in August, K-Fold also outperformed existing global models in selected evaluation categories.
K-Fold demonstrated particularly strong performance in predicting how drug candidates bind to and act on key therapeutic targets, including G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and kinases, which are major drug targets for cancer and other diseases. It also performed strongly in targeted protein degradation (TPD), an emerging drug discovery approach designed to directly eliminate disease-causing proteins.
K-Fold also significantly increased the speed of structure prediction. Conventional protein structure prediction models often require a complex preprocessing step that searches for and compares large amounts of data on similar proteins before calculating a structure. K-Fold applies a new approach that does not depend on this process, eliminating the need for preprocessing calculations and increasing structure prediction speeds by up to 25 times compared with existing models.
This means that researchers can evaluate more drug candidates within the same amount of time. By reducing the time and computing resources required for structure prediction, K-Fold can help rapidly identify the most promising compounds from a vast pool of candidates and narrow the selection for experimental validation.
“National competitiveness in the AI era depends on sovereign AI capabilities, which is the crucial ability to develop and deploy core technologies independently,” said KAIST President Choongsik Bae. “K-Fold is significant because it combines homegrown AI technology with biotechnology to challenge the world’s leading technologies and translates that capability into a service applicable to real-world drug discovery. KAIST will continue to strengthen Korea’s technological sovereignty in AI and its future competitiveness by advancing the convergence of foundational AI technologies with science and technology.”
The research team went beyond developing K-Fold as a standalone model, turning it into an AI research service that researchers can use through a conversational web-based interface.
K-Fold has been integrated into HyperLab, a multi-agent platform developed by HITS, a KAIST faculty startup. This allows researchers to use the model without having to build their own high-performance computing infrastructure or operate complex AI software.
For example, if a researcher asks the AI to “design an antibody that binds strongly to this protein,” it provides step-by-step support for predicting the protein’s structure, designing candidates with a high likelihood of binding, and computationally evaluating the results. Researchers can also ask it to “find a suitable peptide candidate for this cancer target protein.” In practical terms, instead of moving between multiple software tools to calculate structures and analyze results, researchers can simply state their research objective and have the AI carry out the necessary analyses and design tasks in sequence.
To support these capabilities, HyperLab incorporates approximately 120 computational tools and 160 specialized functions for structure prediction, drug design, and the analysis of life science data, including genomic and proteomic data. It also connects more than 100 specialized databases with a large-scale knowledge graph, enabling the platform to retrieve relevant scientific information and apply it to its analyses.
HyperLab aims to serve as an AI Co-Scientist that assists researchers throughout the research process by supporting the full workflow, from understanding a research question and selecting the appropriate tools to predicting structures, analyzing results, and iteratively improving designs.
Bio AI is emerging as a critical technology capable of reducing the time and cost required for drug discovery, driving intense competition among global technology companies and major research institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. The development of K-Fold is significant because it lays the foundation for sovereign bio AI by securing core bio AI technology domestically, rather than relying solely on overseas models, and making it available for real-world research.
The achievement was first presented at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Korean Federation of Biomolecular Science, held on June 23, where Professor Woo Youn Kim from the KAIST Department of Chemistry delivered a keynote lecture titled “Generative Drug Design Powered by Agentic AI.”
“K-Fold was developed not to follow existing models, but to overcome the limitations of conventional approaches through a new AI architecture,” explained Professor Kim. “We will develop it into an AI-for-Science platform that makes world-class bio AI technology accessible to researchers everywhere.”
The Team KAIST consortium plans to release K-Fold free of charge. HyperLab will provide beta access to researchers in Korea and abroad, and gradually expand its commercial services by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, industry training on K-Fold is gaining momentum. An online session hosted by KoreaBIO on August 27 attracted 85 participants, while 118 have registered for KPBMA’s hybrid session on September 1. Designed primarily for researchers and practitioners at pharmaceutical and biotech companies, the training covers how to use K-Fold and presents case studies of its application to drug design. The initiative is intended to accelerate the adoption of sovereign bio-AI across the industry.
Related website: [HyperLab Co-Scientist] https://hyperlab.ai/features-co-scientist
K-Fold–HyperLab 3.0 Introduction Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MxhZr-C3pQdIVn1EP44hQICj8G70is3_/view
This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT, PJT-25-100009)
2026.08.28 View 5354 -
KAIST Turns Once-Troublesome Protons into an Energy Storage Resource for Batteries
Batteries that use water-based electrolytes have a relatively low risk of fire and are inexpensive, but they have faced limitations in storing large amounts of energy. KAIST researchers have succeeded in using a reaction previously regarded as a “troublemaker” that degrades battery performance to store more energy instead. This achievement opens up the possibility of next-generation water-based batteries capable of storing more energy while charging and discharging rapidly.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on the 19th that a research team led by Sarah S. Park from the Department of Chemistry has developed a new electrode material that sequentially stores zinc ions (Zn²⁺) and protons. The material is based on a two-dimensional conductive metal–organic framework (MOF), a structure in which metals and organic molecules are connected to form microscopic pores.
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries use water-based electrolytes. An electrolyte is a substance that allows ions to move inside a battery. Because aqueous zinc-ion batteries have a relatively low risk of fire, are inexpensive, and impose a low environmental burden, they are attracting attention as a next-generation option for large-scale energy storage systems (ESS).
Because zinc ions carry electrical charge, are divalent ions and slow movement inside electrodes, making it difficult to achieve both high capacity and fast charge–discharge performance at the same time. Protons, by contrast, are extremely small and can move very quickly, making them an ideal charge carrier. However, when too many protons enter an electrode, byproducts form on the electrode surface, interfering with the movement of zinc ions and lowering battery performance. For this reason, protons have traditionally been regarded as “troublemakers” that degrade battery performance, and research has focused on suppressing their reactions.
The research team took a different approach. Instead of suppressing proton reactions, the research team precisely controlled the order in which zinc ions and protons are stored so that both could be used for energy storage.
To accomplish this, they introduced amine functional groups into the micropores of a two-dimensional conductive MOF, designing the material so that it would react with protons only when a certain voltage was reached. By designing the amine functional groups to store protons only at a specific voltage, the researchers enabled zinc ions to be stored first, followed by the additional storage of protons.
The principle is similar to first placing large pebbles in an empty bottle and then filling the gaps between them with fine sand. The electrode is used more efficiently by storing the relatively large zinc ions first and then adding the smaller protons.
In practice, zinc ions were stored first in the higher-voltage range, while protons were additionally stored as the voltage decreased. In the Cu₃(HHTATP)₂ electrode material developed by the research team, zinc ions and protons participated in energy storage sequentially in different voltage ranges.
The sequence is particularly important. If protons react too early, by-products may form and obstruct the movement of zinc ions. By enabling protons to react only after the zinc ions had been stored, the researchers reduced interference between the two storage processes.
The newly developed electrode material achieved a high storage capacity of 368.7 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.5 A g⁻¹. In simple terms, this means that a small amount of electrode material can store a large amount of electricity.
Even when the charging and discharging rate was increased sixteenfold, the electrode retained 46.9% of its initial storage capacity—nearly half. Batteries generally store less energy as their charging and discharging rates increase, but the new electrode maintained substantial storage capacity even under rapid charging and discharging conditions. It also demonstrated stable performance after more than 500 rapid charge–discharge cycles.
Using various X-ray analysis techniques, the research team confirmed that zinc ions were stored first, followed by additional proton storage. The researchers also found that the process of storing and subsequently releasing protons could be repeated.
This study is significant because it overcomes the difficulty of simultaneously achieving high capacity and rapid ion transport in porous electrode materials. In particular, it presents a new direction for developing next-generation aqueous zinc-ion batteries by demonstrating that the storage sequence of different ions can be controlled through molecular-level design.
The findings present a new design approach that could enable safe and economical aqueous zinc-ion batteries to store more energy while charging and discharging rapidly. The approach is expected to help improve the performance of water-based batteries used in applications such as large-scale energy storage systems.
Professor Sarah S. Park from KAIST said, “This study demonstrates that protons, previously regarded as ‘troublemakers’ that could degrade battery performance, can instead be used to store more energy. We expect that applying this principle to various electrode materials will lead to the development of batteries capable of rapidly storing larger amounts of energy.”
POSTECH doctoral student Geunchan Park and master student Gyuwon Lee, participated as co-first authors. The study was published in the international chemistry journal Chem on July 7.
Paper title: Sequential Zn²⁺–H⁺ Storage in a 2D Conductive Metal–Organic Framework for Advanced Aqueous Zinc-Ion Battery
DOI: 10.1016/j.chempr.2026.103129
Author information: Geunchan Park (co-first author), Gyuwon Lee (co-first author), Kangmin Kim (second author), Sarah S. Park (corresponding author)
This research was supported by the Basic Research Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea and the National Supercomputing Center.
2026.08.19 View 3719 -
KAIST Controls the Rotation Direction of Light Without Complex New Materials
A new pathway has opened for controlling the rotation direction of light simply by changing how molecules are arranged, without having to synthesize complex new materials. Circularly polarized light is a special form of light that travels while rotating like a pinwheel either to the left or to the right. Because different rotation directions can carry different information, it is drawing attention as a key light source for next-generation displays, optical communications, and security technologies. KAIST researchers have developed a platform technology that arranges symmetric molecules into “microscopic pinwheels,” enabling circularly polarized light with a desired rotation direction.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on August 14 that a research team led by Professor Dong Ki Yoon from the Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with researchers from Chungnam National University, Ajou University, Yonsei University, and Japan’s RIKEN, has developed a technology that spatially confines symmetric non-chiral liquid crystal molecules and applies an electric field to form micrometer-scale chiral pinwheel structures, then permanently replicates them onto polymer nanofibers.
Chirality refers to the property of an object whose mirror image cannot be perfectly superimposed on the original, like a person’s left and right hands. Chirality is a key property not only of biological molecules such as proteins and DNA, but also of optical materials used in next-generation displays, optical sensors, and optical communications.
Until now, producing chiral optical materials has generally required the complex synthesis of molecules with asymmetric structures or the addition of large amounts of chiral substances. This has made fabrication complicated, limited the range of usable materials, and made it difficult to realize chiral structures with the same handedness over a large area.
To address this challenge, the research team proposed a new approach based on the idea that “structure creates function.”
The team applied to molecules the same principle by which the same sheet of paper can form either a clockwise or counterclockwise pinwheel depending on how it is folded. They focused on the fact that even symmetric molecules can form structures with different handedness depending on how they assemble.
The researchers first induced rod-shaped molecules to self-assemble into microscopic pinwheel-like structures. They then added an extremely small amount of chiral additive, less than 1% of the total material, to guide all of the pinwheels to face the same direction. The team then successfully replicated this structure onto polymer nanofibers.
When a conventional luminescent material was coated onto this structure, circularly polarized light rotating in opposite directions was emitted depending not on the luminescent material itself, but on the direction of the pinwheel structure. Circularly polarized light is a special form of light that rotates to the left or right as it travels, and because each rotation direction can carry different information, it can be used in next-generation displays, optical communications, and anti-counterfeiting technologies.
In other words, the study showed that the properties of light can be controlled simply by changing the structure on which a light-emitting material is placed, rather than by changing the light-emitting material itself. Put simply, just as the same LEGO blocks can form completely different shapes depending on how they are assembled, the same molecules can produce different optical properties depending only on how they are arranged.
Professor Dong Ki Yoon said, “The key point of this study is that we controlled the rotation direction of light not through the complex chemical structure of chiral molecules, but only through the way molecules are arranged,” adding, “This work presents a new optical material design principle that can be applied to next-generation displays, AR and VR optical devices, polarization sensors, and optical communications without the need to develop complex new materials.”
Jeong Yeon Han, the first author and a Ph.D. candidate, explained, “In conventional approaches, left-handed and right-handed structures tended to form together, canceling out chiral properties. In this study, however, we succeeded in aligning the structures in a single direction over a large area by designing an extremely small amount of additive to select only one rotation direction.”
This study was led by Ph.D. candidate Jeong Yeon Han as the first author, and the research results were published in the international journal Nature Communications on August 05.
Paper title: Microchiral pinwheel arrays based on achiral molecules,
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-76089-z
Authors: Jeong Yeon Han (first author), Won Kyung Park, Byeongil Noh, Fumito Araoka, Sungwook Jung, Byeong Hak Jhun, Youngmin You, Yoonsu Park, Kyung Jin Lee*, Jung-Moo Heo*, and Dong Ki Yoon* (*corresponding authors)
This research was supported by the Technology Innovation Program of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the InnoCORE Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the National Research Foundation of Korea.
2026.08.14 View 3975 -
KAIST identifies a molecular “switch” that activates cell growth signaling, suggesting a potential basis for next-generation anticancer therapy
Cells carry their own growth switches. When enough nutrients—amino acids in particular—are available, cells flip this switch on and begin to grow. Researchers at KAIST and Yonsei University have now uncovered the molecular mechanism by which amino acid signals activate this cellular growth switch. The findings are expected to open a new avenue for anticancer therapies that target abnormal growth signaling in tumor cells.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on July 26 that a research team led by Professors Hee-Sung Park and Jin Young Kang from the Department of Chemistry, working with Professor Sunghoon Kim's team from Yonsei University, has identified a molecular mechanism that links amino acid stimulation to mTORC1-dependent growth signaling.
Cells continually monitor whether enough amino acids—the basic building blocks of proteins—are available in their surroundings, and adjust their growth, protein synthesis, and energy use accordingly. Central to this process is mTORC1 (mammalian Target of Rapamycin Complex 1), a protein complex that functions as the cell's growth switch.
mTORC1 promotes cell growth, protein synthesis, and metabolism when nutrients and energy are abundant. But when mTORC1 becomes excessively active, cells can grow and proliferate beyond what is needed—a pattern of dysregulation observed in numerous cancers. For this reason, mTORC1 has long been considered a prime target for anticancer drug development. Exactly how cells detect external nutrient cues and translate them into mTORC1 activation, however, has remained incompletely understood.
The research team focused on the multi-tRNA synthetase complex (MSC), a large protein assembly composed of multiple aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and scaffold proteins. While aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are best known for their essential role in protein synthesis – attaching specific amino acids to their cognate tRNAs – the team showed that, in response to amino acid stimulation the MSC releases LARS1, thereby linking nutrient availability to growth signaling.
The key player within the MSC turned out to be a protein called LARS1 (leucyl-tRNA synthetase 1), an enzyme that attaches leucine to its corresponding tRNA and also functions as an intracellular leucine sensor. When cells receive a signal that nutrients are sufficient, LARS1 undergoes phosphorylation—a modification in which a small chemical tag is attached to a protein, altering its function or binding behavior.
The relationship can be pictured this way: the MSC is a control center where multiple proteins wait on standby, and LARS1 is the field agent dispatched to flip on the growth switch. When nutrients become abundant, LARS1 receives a phosphorylation "deployment signal," dissociates from IARS1, the protein that anchors LARS1 to the MSC, and is thereby released from the complex. The freed LARS1 then goes on to activate mTORC1.
In other words, when nutrients are scarce, LARS1 stays bound within the MSC and the growth signal remains off. Once nutrients become sufficient, LARS1 is released from the MSC and switches on mTORC1.
To investigate the structural basis of this process, the team used cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), a technique that visualizes protein complexes in three dimensions in near-atomic resolution by rapidly freezing samples at extremely low temperatures. This allowed the researchers to determine how LARS1 and IARS1 bind to each other and to structurally explain how phosphorylation could disrupt their interaction.
The results showed that LARS1 and IARS1 are normally bound tightly, but amino acid stimulation induces the phosphorylation of LARS1, weakening its interaction with IARS1. This allows LARS1 to dissociate from the MSC and activate mTORC1.
The researchers also engineered phosphomimetic LARS1 variants—mutant proteins designed to imitate the phosphorylated state—and found that these variants substantially enhanced mTORC1 activity. This confirmed that the phosphorylation of LARS1 functions as the key molecular switch converting a nutrient signal into a cell growth signal.
The significance of this study lies in mapping, in concrete molecular detail, how cells sense amino acids and use that information to activate their growth switch. In particular, the study revealed that, upon receiving nutrient signals, the MSC—a complex involved in protein synthesis—releases its constituent protein LARS1, which then activates cellular growth signaling.
Some existing anticancer drugs work by directly inhibiting mTORC1, the cell's growth switch. However, because mTORC1 is also required for normal cellular growth and metabolism, its direct inhibition may also affect normal cells.
The research team expects that further identifying the kinase responsible for phosphorylating LARS1, along with its regulatory mechanism, could enable a more precise anticancer strategy—one that intercepts the growth signal further upstream, before it reaches mTORC1, rather than blocking mTORC1 itself.
The study was co-first-authored by Youjin Kim and Joo-Chan Kim from KAIST's Department of Chemistry and was published online in Nature Communications on June 11.
Paper title: Cryo-EM structure of the LARS1:IARS1 complex reveals a nutrient-responsive switch controlling mTORC1 signaling
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-74085-x
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (grant nos. RS-2026-25482352 to H.S.P., RS-2024-00344154 to J.Y.K., and NRF-2021R1A3B1076605 to S.K.) and PNCC (grant no. 160183).
2026.07.27 View 4471 -
KAIST Gives Antibodies “Eyes” to Detect Cancer, Targeting Cancer Mutations Inside Cells
Antibodies are like “guided missiles” that find and attack cancer cells, but cancer-causing mutations inside cells have remained a “blind spot” for treatment because antibodies cannot reach them. KAIST researchers have now succeeded in precisely targeting even intracellular cancer mutations using a newly designed antibody created through computational methods. This achievement is expected to open a new path toward next-generation precision therapies for difficult-to-treat cancers, going beyond the limitations of conventional antibody treatments.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on the 24th of July that a research team led by Professor Byung-Ha Oh from the Department of Biological Sciences, together with researchers from Therazyne, a KAIST faculty startup specializing in protein design and headed by Professor Oh, has developed an antibody that selectively recognizes only cancer cells carrying KRAS(G12D), a representative cancer-driving mutation. By combining computational antibody design with experimental validation, the team designed a new antibody that would have been difficult to develop through conventional approaches and is now verifying its efficacy in animal disease models.
KRAS(G12D) is a mutated form of the KRAS protein, which regulates cell growth and proliferation. It is one of the most common cancer-driving mutations found in pancreatic, colorectal, and lung cancers. However, because the KRAS protein exists inside cells, it has long been considered an “undruggable target” that is difficult to directly target with conventional antibody therapeutics.
The research team focused on the natural process by which cells break down aged or damaged proteins into small fragments. The KRAS(G12D) protein inside cells is also processed in this way into small protein fragments, known as neoantigens, which serve as clues that allow immune cells to distinguish cancer cells. Some of these fragments are then transported to the cell surface and presented to immune cells. By combining computational protein design with experimental screening, the team developed a TCR-like antibody that precisely recognizes only this cancer-mutation-derived fragment.
TCR, or T cell receptor, acts as a “sensor” that allows T cells, the body’s immune cells, to read protein fragments displayed on the surface of cells and identify cancer cells or virus-infected cells. The TCR-like antibody developed in this study works on a similar principle, effectively giving an antibody the “eyes” of a T cell. It was designed to selectively recognize traces of intracellular cancer mutations that conventional antibodies cannot easily access.
Experimental results confirmed that the antibody developed by the team selectively recognizes only cancer cells carrying the KRAS(G12D) mutation, while showing little to no reaction with normal cells or other proteins. When applied to immunotherapy, it was also shown to effectively eliminate only cancer cells carrying the mutation. This finding suggests the possibility of expanding antibody therapy to intracellular cancer-driving proteins that conventional antibody treatments have been unable to target. It is also expected to serve as a platform technology for developing next-generation precision antibody therapies targeting not only KRAS but also a wide range of cancer mutations.
Professor Byung-Ha Oh said, “The antibody developed in this study can selectively identify only cancer cells carrying the KRAS(G12D) mutation, demonstrating the potential for precision antibody therapeutics that minimize damage to normal cells.” He added, “The computational antibody design technology developed in this research is expected to be widely applicable to the development of next-generation antibody therapeutics targeting KRAS as well as various other cancer mutations.”
Both the first author and corresponding authors of this study are KAIST-affiliated researchers. SangPhil Ahn, a researcher at Therazyne, participated as the first author, while Professor Byung-Ha Oh and Bo-Seong Jeong, Head of Research at Therazyne, jointly led the study as co-corresponding authors. The research was published online on June 3 in Molecular Therapy, a leading international journal in the field of gene and cell therapy.
Paper title: Discovery of TCR-like antibodies to the KRAS G12D neoantigen via in silico-in vitro workflow DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymthe.2026.05.032
This research was conducted in collaboration with Therazyne and the New Drug Development Center of the Osong Biomedical Innovation Foundation, and was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT’s Industry-Academia-Research Linked New Drug Development Program and the National Research Foundation of Korea’s Bio & Medical Technology Development Program.
2026.07.24 View 4510 -
KAIST Develops a Molecular Platform for the Selective Control of Oxygen Reaction Pathways
Controlling how oxygen reacts is important for improving technologies such as batteries, fuel cells, and environmentally sustainable chemical processes. A KAIST research team has developed a new molecular system that can selectively switch the pathway through which electrons are transferred during oxygen activation. The findings are expected to provide a fundamental design principle for next-generation catalysts and energy-conversion technologies.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on the 22nd of July that a research team led by Professor Seung Jun Hwang from the Department of Chemistry has developed a molecular system capable of directing oxygen activation along a selected electron-transfer pathway. By combining germanium with a molecular framework that can store and transfer electrons, the team established a design principle for selectively switching oxygen activation between two- and four-electron pathways.
Catalysts for controlling oxygen reactions have traditionally been developed around transition-metal centers such as iron, cobalt, and nickel. Germanium, by contrast, is a main-group element in the same group of the periodic table as silicon and has generally been considered less suitable for reactions requiring the coordinated transfer of several electrons.
To overcome this limitation, the research team combined germanium with a redox-active ligand, a molecular framework capable of storing, accepting, and transferring electrons. The ligand serves as an electron reservoir and cooperates with the germanium center, allowing the entire molecular structure to participate in multielectron reactions.
When oxygen reacts, the products and reaction outcomes depend on whether two or four electrons are transferred. In general, two-electron oxygen reduction produces hydrogen peroxide, while four-electron reduction produces water. Selectively controlling these pathways is therefore an important challenge in the development of batteries, fuel cells, and greener chemical catalysts.
The study presents a rare example of a main-group molecular system in which two- and four-electron reactivity can be selectively accessed within the same underlying molecular framework. This approach broadens the range of elements that may be considered in catalyst design and provides an alternative strategy to relying exclusively on transition metals.
The team also succeeded in isolating and analyzing a germanium compound representing the two-electron stage of the reaction, which they stabilized by attaching a methyl group to the germanium complex. Remarkably, the germanium atom in this compound could both donate and accept electrons, providing an important clue to how the system controls different reaction pathways.
The team also confirmed the practical potential of the new system. Under mild, light-free conditions, the germanium complex removed halogen atoms such as bromine and chlorine from organic compounds and regenerated alkenes (organic compounds containing a carbon-carbon double bond), which are widely used as raw materials for pharmaceuticals, plastics, and other chemical products. These results suggest that useful chemical feedstocks could be produced through simpler and potentially more energy-efficient processes.
“We expect these findings to inform the development of next-generation catalysts for energy conversion and to contribute to more selective and efficient chemical processes.” said Professor Hwang.
The study was conducted by Sung Gyu Kim and Jinrok Oh, currently postdoctoral researchers in the KAIST Department of Chemistry, and Dae Eui Choi, a student in the combined master’s and doctoral program in the Department of Chemistry at POSTECH. The results were published online in the international journal Chem on July 6.
Paper title: Germanium Ligand Redox Cooperativity: A Key to Ambiphilicity and Switchable Two- and Four-Electron Transfer
DOI: 10.1016/j.chempr.2026.103127
This work was supported by National Research Foundation of Korea grants funded by the Korean government through the Ministry of Science and ICT (NRF-2021R1C1C1010220 and RS-2025-02216980), and by the Samsung Science and Technology Foundation under Project No. SSTF-BA2101-09. Sung Gyu Kim received research fellowship support from the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea, funded by the Ministry of Education (RS-2024-00415390).
2026.07.22 View 3950 -
KAIST’s Advanced Oocyte and Embryo Analysis Technology to Improve IVF Success Recognized at Leading Global Conference
Accurately selecting oocytes and embryos with high developmental potential is essential for improving the success rate of in vitro fertilization (IVF). KAIST researchers have developed a foundational technology that combines time-lapse imaging, which continuously tracks changes over time, with quantitative three-dimensional analysis to predict developmental potential at an early stage without damaging live oocytes and embryos.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on July 21 that Dr. Chungha Lee, a postdoctoral researcher in Professor YongKeun Park’s research group in the Department of Physics, received the Basic Science Award for poster presentation at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), the world’s largest reproductive medicine conference, held in London, United Kingdom, in July.
The Basic Science Award for poster presentation recognizes the most outstanding poster in the basic science category at the ESHRE Annual Meeting, which attracts more than 10,000 participants each year. After reviewing submitted abstracts, the society selects five candidate studies and determines the final winner based on a comprehensive evaluation of the on-site poster presentation and question-and-answer session.
The award recognizes the originality and academic significance of applying holotomography—a technology that uses information about the refraction of light to image the internal structures of live cells in three dimensions without damaging them—to the field of reproductive medicine.
The research demonstrates the potential to develop a next-generation assessment technology that can non-invasively monitor changes in live oocytes and embryos over time, quantitatively analyze them in three dimensions, and predict their developmental potential at an early stage. It also presents a pathway for advancing conventional two-dimensional oocyte and embryo assessment, which has relied heavily on expert experience, toward a more objective and quantitative three-dimensional approach.
In IVF procedures, the selection of oocytes and embryos is a critical factor determining the likelihood of pregnancy. However, because oocytes and embryos are cells that may ultimately be transferred to patients, analytical methods involving stains or fluorescent markers that could affect the cells are difficult to apply.
Clinical practice currently relies primarily on Hoffman modulation contrast microscopy and phase-contrast microscopy, which visualize cellular morphology using differences in light intensity and phase without staining the cells. Embryologists—specialized medical professionals who culture and assess oocytes and embryos during IVF procedures—select embryos for transfer by examining characteristics such as their shape, size, cell-division status, and developmental timing using these microscopes.
However, current assessment methods have limitations because they depend mainly on two-dimensional images and the experience of embryologists, making them largely qualitative. There has therefore been a continuing demand for more objective and quantitative assessment methods.
To overcome these limitations, the research team applied holotomography. This label-free technique requires neither cellular staining nor fluorescent markers. Instead, it measures how light is refracted as it passes through a cell, enabling the internal structure of a live cell to be imaged in three dimensions without causing damage.
The technology can also quantitatively measure the refractive index, which varies according to the density and composition of intracellular materials, allowing researchers to analyze even subtle changes in cellular structure.
Using holotomography, the researchers analyzed the internal structures of oocytes and embryos in three dimensions while keeping them alive and intact. Through experiments using mouse models, they also demonstrated that various biophysical features obtained from early-stage embryos could be used to predict their subsequent development.
Furthermore, the study demonstrated that combining quantitative measurements with artificial intelligence (AI) analysis could enable more advanced assessment of oocytes and embryos beyond conventional morphological assessment, which primarily evaluates features such as cell shape and size.
The related studies have been submitted to international academic journals and are currently under review.
※ Papers: Title: Label-free 3D subcellular phenotyping of mouse embryos by holotomography enables early prediction of blastocyst formation
Journal: bioRxivDOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.07.592317
Title: Holotomography reveals biophysical remodeling of mouse oocytes during post-ovulatory aging
Journal: bioRxiv
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.06.18.733271
The research was conducted through an industry–academia–clinical collaboration involving the KAIST Department of Physics, the Fertility Center at CHA Bundang Medical Center led by Professor Ji Hyang Kim, Avenues, and Tomocube.
It represents a notable example of interdisciplinary research in which an advanced optical platform developed through fundamental physics research was applied to the field of reproductive medicine.
“This award is particularly meaningful because it demonstrates that a new approach for quantitatively analyzing live oocytes and embryos in three dimensions without damaging them has been recognized for its academic value in reproductive medicine,” said Professor Park.
“We are currently conducting validation studies using human oocytes. We will continue our research to develop this approach into an objective and accurate technology for assessing oocytes and embryos and ultimately contribute to improving the success rate of fertility treatment.”
The research was supported by the Global Leader Research Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Research-Centered Hospital R&D Program of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute.
2026.07.21 View 3473 -
KAIST Enables DNA Synthesis Using Only Temperature Instead of Chemical Reagents
"Complex chemical processes are essential for making DNA." This long-held assumption in the field of biotechnology has been overturned by a Korean research team. A KAIST research team has developed the world's first foundational technology that enables the synthesis of desired DNA using only temperature. Using this technology, the team also demonstrated a "DNA temperature black box" that records temperature changes during shipping without electricity.
KAIST announced on the 7th of July that a research team led by Professor Yeongjae Choi of the Graduate School of Engineering Biology, in collaboration with ATG Lifetech Inc. (CEO Taehoon Ryu) and a research team led by Professor Hansol Choi from the Department of Life Science at Ewha Womans University, has developed this platform technology that synthesizes desired DNA sequences by controlling only temperature.
DNA is the "blueprint" that contains the genetic information of humans and all other living organisms. Scientists use custom-made DNA in various biotechnology applications, such as diagnosing diseases, developing new drugs, and creating microorganisms with new functions. Until now, however, each time one of the four bases that make up DNA—A, T, G, and C—was connected, chemical reagents had to be added and washed out repeatedly. As a result, costly automated DNA synthesis equipment and specialized research facilities were essential.
To overcome these limitations, the research team developed "hairpin DNA that reacts only at specific temperatures." This hairpin DNA is a special DNA structure that remains folded like a hairpin and unfolds only at a certain temperature. The team placed multiple types of hairpin DNA that operate at different temperatures into a single test tube and succeeded in synthesizing desired DNA step by step by changing only the temperature in the sequence.
This opens the way for synthesizing DNA with only a general temperature control device, without the need for complex reagent replacement or large-scale equipment.
As the technology advances, it is expected to greatly reduce the cost and time required to make DNA, lowering the entry barriers not only for synthetic biology and genetic research, but also for various bioindustries such as drug development and precision medicine.
To demonstrate the practical applicability of the technology, the research team also implemented a power-free "DNA temperature black box." This device is normally stored in a freeze-dried state and begins operating when a single drop of water is added just before use. It then automatically records—directly into a DNA sequence—when, how long, and in what order the temperature changes during shipping. In addition, when exposed to temperatures above a certain level, the device changes color, allowing abnormalities to be checked visually on the spot. It is expected to be used for the quality control of products for which cold-chain distribution is important, such as vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, cell therapies, and fresh foods.
KAIST researcher Jangho Choi and GIST doctoral student Jinho Kim participated in this research as co-first authors, and the research results were published in the international journal Nature Communications on July 2.
※ Paper title: Programmable one-pot polymerase-mediated DNA synthesis via temperature control
※ DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-74890-4
※ Related Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bUtzC83qIm1k-hNFKTb09yFPhfsD4iU-/view?usp=drive_lin
※ Authors: Jangho Choi (KAIST, co-first author), Jinho Kim (GIST, co-first author), Hansol Choi (Ewha Womans University, corresponding author), Yeongjae Choi (KAIST, corresponding author)
This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT through the Future Promising Convergence Technology Pioneer Program, the Biofoundry-Based Technology Development Program, the Young Researcher Program, and the Global Basic Research Laboratory Program.
2026.07.07 View 5242