Nicolas Winssinger is Professor at the University of Geneva (organic chemistry department) and a member of the NCCR Chemical Biology. His research interests lie in bioorganic chemistry and chemical biology. An important theme in his lab is the use of chemical synthesis and natural product synthesis to aid in the development of chemical biology probes, with an emphasis on probes that inhibit their target through covalent interactions. Another important theme throughout his research is the use of unnatural nucleic acid (PNA) to encode molecules, program spatial organization of ligands and direct reactions. His group has developed several new DNA and RNA templated chemical reactions that proceed in cellulo and live organisms, responding to endogenous RNAs. A long-term objective is to extend these principles towards complex systems which can emulate some of the fundamental features of living systems.