Dr. Emanuela Torelli - Senior Postdoctoral and Transitional Fellow - NanoBio Technology

How did you become interested in nanobiotechnology?

“Well, I was reading academic papers and I felt somehow shocked, excited, and fascinated when I first discovered this area. For me, everything felt like a dream, and I started talking with my PI of that time, this was still in Italy. We then began collaborating with CNR laboratories in Italy, and we looked more actively at the topic and played a little bit. It was then clear to me what I wanted to do: I thought ‘this is my job’. Initially I was working on something different, focusing my research on mycotoxins occurrence in various food matrices: so, this is how I came to the nanobiotechnology field.”

What do you do?

“In general, I work on two main topics; the first is related to the origami technique, which means synthesizing small objects using DNA or RNA as building materials for different purposes, in vitro but also in vivo. The second topic is DNA data storage, how to store information in DNA. Now we are using simple test tubes operating in vitro, but the future goal is to eventually improve a cell’s behaviour or store and retrieve information in an organised way.”

What do you do in your free time?

“I love spending time with my two sons, Alessandro and Luca. I really like cooking with them, especially Italian food, we cook together to relax after long working days. In my spare time, I love doing physical activities, dancing, and watching movies from different genre; my favourite is Pulp Fiction. I listen to music every day, spanning from relaxing soul to house music. Depending on my mood, Amy Winehouse, Snoop Dogg, Diddy, Lenny Kravitz, Sam Smith, The Weeknd are some of my favourite artists.”

Ask Emanuela any questions via our contact page.