Begüm Şaş is currently pursuing a PhD in Genetics at Saint Petersburg State University. She works at the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of Pathogens, Saint Petersburg Pasteur Institute. She received her Master’s degree in Biotechnology from ITMO University in 2025, where her thesis focused on developing DNAzyme-based biosensors for RNA virus detection. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics at Istanbul Kultur University in 2021, with a thesis on CAR-T cell therapy. Her experience includes projects on molecular diagnostics, virology, and plant stress physiology. She has participated in internships and academic training programs in Turkey, Russia, and Greece, involving food microbiology, molecular virology, and photosynthetic efficiency under abiotic stress. Her main scientific interests include nucleic acid engineering, isothermal amplification, and portable diagnostic platforms.