Shuying Liu

BA Molecular and Cell Biology; Economics, University of California, Berkeley, 2026

During my undergraduate years, I double majored in Molecular and Cell Biology and Economics at UC Berkeley. As an undergraduate researcher in the Patrick Shih Lab at Berkeley, I contributed to several projects on Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in plants, and completed my senior thesis on engineering Agrobacterium strains for improved transformation of Nicotiana benthamiana. I also interned in the Jen Sheen Lab in Boston, where I studied how chromatin state influences CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing outcomes in Arabidopsis protoplasts. My research sparked a deep interest in host-microbe interactions, and I joined the Littman Lab as a research technician to bridge my molecular biology background with my interests in immunology and the gut microbiome. Outside the lab, I enjoy traveling, baking, hiking, lifting weights, and city walks.