Aneesa Ijaz

Ms. Aneesa Ijaz

Centre of Agricultural Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
orcid
Open for collaborations

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

2Years (2025-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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1 October 2025 in The Plant Genome
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
MFMuhammad Farooq
Muhammad Farooq
HTHina Tanveer
Hina Tanveer
HRHafiz Mamoon Rehman
Hafiz Mamoon Rehman
RCRabia Areej Cheema
Rabia Areej Cheema
SNSehar Nawaz
Sehar Nawaz
Hon-Ming LamHon-Ming Lam
Hon-Ming Lam
Heat stress, exacerbated by global warming, can cause significant challenges to agriculture, adversely impacting plant growth, reproduction, and yield. This review examines the crucial role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in mediating plant responses to heat stress across various key crops, including Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana ), rice ( Oryza sativa ), wheat ( Triticum aestivum ), and other significant species. Under high temperatures, miRNAs regulate gene expression by targeting transcription factors (e.g., SPL , NF‐YA , and Apetala 2 [ AP2 ]), heat shock proteins, and antioxidant enzymes (e.g., copper/zinc superoxide dismutase), thereby modulating pathways involved in hormone signaling, oxidative stress mitigation, and developmental transitions. Advanced high‐throughput sequencing technologies have identified heat‐responsive miRNAs (e.g., miR156, miR398, miR172) and their functional networks, including crosstalk with small interfering RNAs, long noncoding RNAs, and circular RNAs via competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) mechanisms. These findings highlight miRNAs as promising targets for engineering heat‐resilient crops. However, gaps remain in understanding tissue‐specific miRNA dynamics and their integration with epigenetic and multi‐omics networks. Future research should employ integrative approaches to optimize miRNA‐based strategies for sustainable agriculture in the context of climate change.

31 August 2026 in Biophysica
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
AIAneesa Ijaz
Aneesa Ijaz
ZAZainab Aftab
Zainab Aftab
HRHafiz Mamoon Rehman
Hafiz Mamoon Rehman
SNSehar Nawaz
Sehar Nawaz
Seung Hwan YangSeung Hwan Yang
Seung Hwan Yang
Synthetic biology is transforming biosensors from passive molecular detectors into programable systems capable of integrating biological sensing with therapeutic decision-making. Conventional biosensors respond to a single molecular input and are inherently limited in interpreting complex biological environments that characterize human disease. Synthetic biology logic gates address this limitation by implementing Boolean computation through modular transcriptional regulators, RNA switches, CRISPR-based regulators, and recombinase systems, enabling autonomous biological decision-making within living cells. These genetic circuits enable biosensors to evaluate multiple disease-relevant inputs simultaneously and generate context-specific diagnostic or therapeutic outputs. This review critically analyzes how logic-gated biosensing systems integrate biological sensing, genetic computation, and therapeutic actuation, while identifying the engineering and translational barriers that currently limit their clinical implementation. Comparison of current platforms shows that increasing circuit complexity generally improves disease specificity and therapeutic precision but often reduces robustness, scalability, and translational feasibility because of circuit leakage, metabolic burden, crosstalk, and biological variability. While AND and SynNotch circuits provide superior target discrimination for cell therapies, CRISPR-based and memory-enabled systems expand programable control but introduce additional engineering challenges. Current clinical translation remains constrained by circuit stability, manufacturing complexity, biosafety, and the lack of standardized regulatory frameworks. Emerging modular circuit design, cell-free biosensing, and artificial intelligence-assisted optimization are beginning to address these limitations and provide more scalable strategies for precision therapeutics. Collectively, this review identifies the engineering principles and design trade-offs that will govern the development of next-generation logic-enabled biosensors from proof-of-concept platforms to clinically deployable therapeutic systems.