The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $650,000 Project Grant under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) Federal Grant Program (CFDA 47.049) to professors Hsin-Chih Yeh and Devleena Samanta at the University of Texas at Austin. The grant will fund their research to develop new types of functional nucleic acid (FNA) molecules for detecting and imaging chemicals with high sensitivity and selectivity, including in complex biological environments. The goal is to create FNA-based sensors that can rival or surpass the capabilities of conventional protein enzyme-based sensors. The research aims to characterize, enhance, and diversify the catalytic properties of various FNAs, including aptazymes and DNA-peptide chimeras, to enable advanced chemical measurement and imaging applications. This work is expected to advance the fundamental scientific understanding of target-FNA interactions and the development of nucleic acid-based sensors and nanomaterials for fluorescence imaging.