The latest work from the lab now out in @cp-molcell.bsky.social! New mechanistic insights into TnpB DNA unwinding and hypercompact plant genome editors🌱 Congratulations to leads @zehanzhou.bsky.social, Iren Saffarian, @honglue.bsky.social, Trevor Weiss & team, and Jacobsen, Savage and Bryant labs

Zehan Zhou@zehanzhou.bsky.social · 2w ago

We are PUBLISHED!!! Our mechanistic work on how CRISPR-Cas ancestors unwind DNA and how this can be used to engineer hypercompact plant editors can now be found on Mol Cell- if you are interested in what defines a good genome editor, this read is for you 😎 🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🚀 New preprint! @jacobsenucla.bsky.social x @doudna-lab.bsky.social collaboration: High-activity TnpB (Ymu1-WFR) + a multi-gRNA system in TRV enables heritable, tissue-culture-free multiplex editing in plants. Big potential for plant biotech 🧬🌾🌱 doi.org/10.64898/202...

New preprint 👉Doudna x Bryant x Jacobsen x Savage collaboration! Work led by @zehanzhou.bsky.social, I. Saffarian-Deemyad, @honglue.bsky.social, T. Weiss We dissect how stepwise DNA unwinding gates TnpB genome editing, revealing how unwound DNA states enhance cleavage www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Stepwise DNA unwinding gates TnpB genome-editing activity

TnpB is a compact RNA-guided endonuclease and evolutionary ancestor of CRISPR-Cas12 that offers a promising platform for genome engineering. However, the genome-editing activity of TnpBs remains limit...

biorxiv.org

How do the ancestors of CRISPR-Cas unwind DNA and how can this lead to better genome editing? With our collaboration between @doudna-lab.bsky.social x @jacobsenucla.bsky.social x Zev Bryant's lab x @savagecatsonly.bsky.social we've uncovered the secrets behind TnpB's dynamics!

The plasmids associated with this paper are available on addgene now! www.addgene.org/browse/artic...

Honglue@honglue.bsky.social · last yr.

Our paper is finally out in Molecular Cell! 🚀 We uncover why PAM-relaxed Cas9 variants like SpRY are inefficient — they get kinetically trapped during target engagement. Mechanistic insights like this are key to engineering smarter, faster genome editors. Huge thanks to the team! #CRISPR #editing🔬🧬

Welcome to the JCC family!

Jane Coffin Childs Fund for Medical Research@jcchildsfund.bsky.social · last yr.

We're thrilled to announce the 2025 class of Jane Coffin Childs Fellows! See our latest blog post and "look book" to learn more about our newest Fellows and their exciting research! www.jccfund.org/blog/the-jan... www.jccfund.org/wp-content/u...

Our paper is finally out in Molecular Cell! 🚀 We uncover why PAM-relaxed Cas9 variants like SpRY are inefficient — they get kinetically trapped during target engagement. Mechanistic insights like this are key to engineering smarter, faster genome editors. Huge thanks to the team! #CRISPR #editing🔬🧬

Molecular Cell @cp-molcell.bsky.social · last yr.

Online Now: Rapid two-step target capture ensures efficient CRISPR-Cas9-guided genome editing Online now:

Now online at Molecular Cell! What makes SpyCas9 such an efficient editor? Read more at: www.cell.com/molecular-ce... Congrats @honglue.bsky.social, Noor Al-Sayyad, and @kevinwasko.bsky.social!

Rapid two-step target capture ensures efficient CRISPR-Cas9-guided genome editing

A two-step target capture process—specific but low-affinity PAM binding followed by rapid DNA unwinding—underpins efficient CRISPR-Cas9 editing. Shi et al. show that PAM-relaxed Cas9 variants like SpR...

cell.com

Innovative Genomics Institute@innovativegenomics.bsky.social · last yr.

“What we’ve done here is uncover the secret sauce that makes typical #Cas9 — the original Nobel molecule — so efficient and precise." – Co-first author @honglue.bsky.social of the @doudna-lab.bsky.social on his new paper out today in Molecular Cell Read here: shorturl.at/p664D

“What we’ve done here is uncover the secret sauce that makes typical #Cas9 — the original Nobel molecule — so efficient and precise." – Co-first author @honglue.bsky.social of the @doudna-lab.bsky.social on his new paper out today in Molecular Cell Read here: shorturl.at/p664D

See details in this website gess.hms.harvard.edu/event/meirui...

Honglue@honglue.bsky.social · last yr.

Giving a seminar for the Genome Engineering Seminar Series at Harvard this Monday, April 7 at 1pm EST / 10am PST! 🎙️ I’ll be talking about our Cas9 work—if you’ve ever wondered what the recipe is for high-efficiency CRISPR genome editing, come hang out!🧬💥 📍 Zoom link: harvard.zoom.us/j/94394339529

🧪🧪🧪10 incredible findings about Cas10-relative, mCpol: result number 10 will surprise you!🧪🧪🧪 @erinedoherty.bsky.social and I teamed up to understand the role and function of Cas10-relative, mCpol, and its role in antiphage immunity. For more, check out Erin's thread 👇

Erin Doherty@erinedoherty.bsky.social · last yr.

Preprint alert! ✨ In this project that I co-led with @benadler.bsky.social, we show that a miniature CRISPR-Cas10-like enzyme, mCpol, uses a novel inverse signaling mechanism to prevent the spread of viruses that attempt immune evasion by depleting host cyclic nucleotides. Check it out:

Catch @honglue.bsky.social at the Harvard Genome Engineering Seminar Series this Monday, April 7 at 1pm EST / 10am PST! If you’ve ever wondered why SpyCas9 is so efficient at genome editing, don’t miss his talk—Zoom link: harvard.zoom.us/j/94394339529

Honglue@honglue.bsky.social · last yr.

Giving a seminar for the Genome Engineering Seminar Series at Harvard this Monday, April 7 at 1pm EST / 10am PST! 🎙️ I’ll be talking about our Cas9 work—if you’ve ever wondered what the recipe is for high-efficiency CRISPR genome editing, come hang out!🧬💥 📍 Zoom link: harvard.zoom.us/j/94394339529

Giving a seminar for the Genome Engineering Seminar Series at Harvard this Monday, April 7 at 1pm EST / 10am PST! 🎙️ I’ll be talking about our Cas9 work—if you’ve ever wondered what the recipe is for high-efficiency CRISPR genome editing, come hang out!🧬💥 📍 Zoom link: harvard.zoom.us/j/94394339529

Preprint alert! ✨ In this project that I co-led with @benadler.bsky.social, we show that a miniature CRISPR-Cas10-like enzyme, mCpol, uses a novel inverse signaling mechanism to prevent the spread of viruses that attempt immune evasion by depleting host cyclic nucleotides. Check it out:

A miniature CRISPR-Cas10 enzyme confers immunity by an inverse signaling pathway

Microbial and viral co-evolution has created immunity mechanisms involving oligonucleotide signaling that share mechanistic features with human anti-viral systems. In these pathways, including CBASS a...

biorxiv.org

Thanks to out @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social community for joining us at Stand Up For Science! @jenniferdoudna.bsky.social spoke about how NIH funding supported her PhD & NSF funding supported her development of #CRISPR genome editing. Federal funding is needed for life-saving science!