Steve Knutson, RNA Chemical Biologist, Joins Faculty

The newest member of the College of Pharmacy Medicinal Chemistry faculty is an expert in RNA biology — but in his research, Steve D. Knutson, PhD, also plays the role of a detective and engineer.

RNA carries the instructions from our DNA to help assemble the proteins that drive cellular function. However, since the Human Genome Project decoded our DNA, more and more data has revealed that only about 1% of our DNA is actually encoded as protein, while most of our DNA gets made into RNA. “That means that most of what your genome is doing is making this huge volume of ‘non-coding RNAs’ in the body. We don’t really know what most of them are doing. It’s a big mystery,” says Knutson, who will join the Medicinal Chemistry department as an Associate Professor in July 2026.

We do know that RNA plays a key role in normal cell function, and that mutations and malfunctions are associated with human disease, from cancer to neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s Disease. “My job is to use genetic tools like CRISPR to figure out which of these 100,000 non-coding RNAs across your genome are functionally important, and then use chemical tools like proximity labeling to figure out how they actually work,” Knutson says. “I have to be a detective, identifying what molecules are present, what they are doing, what they are interacting with, and how,” Knutson says. “That is 100% the appeal for me. It’s why I am in this field. There are so many mysteries. How does the cell spatially use RNA and other molecules for different activities? How does a disease start? How can we correct or interrupt that process?” 

“That’s the best part of this job; you’re kind of on the frontier,” he notes. “The best days are when you discover or create something, and you might be the only person on Earth that knows that at that moment.”

Engineering tools to solve mysteries

One major focus of his research is proximity labeling. “I want to know how RNA interacts with other molecules within the cell and how they fit together, but I don’t know which pieces are going to be present,” he says. RNA moves around and migrates, “so that spatial and temporal labeling is important.” 

He compares proximity labeling to ink capsules that banks bundle with cash so they burst and splatter on a bank robber. “With proximity labeling, we can use catalysts to tag molecules that are present at a very specific place at a specific point in time. We look for the tagged molecules, just like the police look for the person covered in ink.” He led the development of next-generation proximity-labeling platforms as an NIH K99 Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University before accepting his new faculty position at Michigan.

“RNA is a huge molecule. It’s kind of like an aircraft carrier; a lot of things can scaffold on that and go different places,” he says, and that’s where both the discovery and engineering aspects of his role come in. “This non-coding activity is very exciting in what it suggests that RNA is capable of doing – we are just scratching the surface of its potential with current mRNA-based therapeutics.” 

He enjoys building tools that can lead to powerful advances in both basic biology and new medicines. “It can be kind of scary when something doesn’t work and you aren’t exactly sure what to do next. Science is mostly failure. You have to learn from these failures, keep working the problem, and just keep going,” he notes.

Contributing to the Michigan RNA Community

Knutson is a Chicago-area native and earned his undergraduate degree in molecular and cellular biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After graduation, he worked for several years at ThermoFisher Scientific as a research scientist. Although his role started in quality control, he had the opportunity to run experiments and develop new technologies, and was soon hooked on the process of discovery. He earned his PhD in Chemistry from Emory University in Atlanta under the mentorship of Professor Jennifer Heemstra. 

He was drawn to the University of Michigan for its strong and growing community of RNA and chemical biology researchers, its flourishing cancer center, and the College of Pharmacy’s strength in drug discovery and high-throughput screening. 

“There are tons of people I can collaborate with within Pharmacy and across campus,” he says. “This is a place where someone like me can really hit the ground running.”

________________

About the College

The University of Michigan College of Pharmacy has been leading at pharmacy’s edge for 150 years. The first and oldest pharmacy school at a state university, the College — currently ranked #3 in the nation — has and continues to shape education in the field. Its faculty are internationally recognized and are innovators in drug discovery, development and delivery, precision pharmacotherapy, outcomes research, and clinical practice. More than 5,000 alumni are enhancing patient care and outcomes from the bench to the bedside, in boardrooms and communities, government agencies, and within healthcare companies.