Our lab is broadly interested in the biology of immune proteins found throughout nature. Bacteria have evolved numerous defenses against phage, including CRISPR-Cas systems, and while these predominantly function as RNA-guided nucleases, additional functions exist including CRISPR-associated transposases that perform RNA-targeted DNA insertion, and CRISPR-associated proteases that cleave protein substrates upon RNA detection.

We are interested in how cells sense and respond to nucleic acids and how diverse enzymes can be controlled in a programmable manner. Our long-term goal is to use these basic discoveries to enable new functions in biology and to contribute to our understanding of the human genome.