Lijun Zhou is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor of Science in Biology and Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Structural Biology from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Dr. Zhou's research focuses on Nucleic Acid Chemistry, particularly the development and application of non-natural nucleic acids (XNA) and methods for in vitro selection. His work explores RNA-protein interactions and structural biology while contributing to the field of artificial cells. He is associated with the Penn Institute for RNA Innovation and continues to advance the understanding of nucleic acids through his innovative experiments and collaborations.