Thom Hallmark, PhD

Honestly, this is a life dream

This is so sad. A loss...

In Exedos, these venomous snakes start biting people, and all they had to do to be healed of the snake bites was look at this brass snake on a stick. Same story, different details.

RNA-triggered CRISPR-Cas12a2 Preferentially and Cooperatively Cleaves Collateral DNA CRISPR-Cas systems often rely on collateral cleavage activities against nucleic-acid substrates to combat recognized mobile genetic elements. Of the associated RNA-guided Cas effector nucleases, Cas12...

Wondered which cleavage substrate Cas12a2 prefers and how it selects between substrates? In this new preprint we find out! A great, continuing collaboration between the Jackson lab at USU and the Beisel Lab at HIRI
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Wow, that's a pretty structure

These are some fun traditions :)

Someone should tell academics...

Very insightful

Reading a recursive method section with "we performed the method as described in (citation)" going back 10 years

This dissertation describes my work characterizing Cas12a2 to uncover the fundamental principles governing RNA targeted cell killing.

If your interested in targeted cell killing, follow me. There are several cool stories in the works from the Jackson, Beisel and Liu labs (not on 🦋)

We think Cas12a2 could be repurposed to selectively kill cells based on specific RNA targets (eg. Pathogens, cancer, autoimmune cells, &c.) while leaving healthy cells unharmed. But before using Cas12a2 for these applications we needed to understand the basics of its activity.

Cas12a2 is an RNA guided nuclease like Cas9, but instead of targeting dsDNA, Cas12a2 recognizes RNA targets. Target binding activates a collateral nuclease activity that cleaves RNA, ssDNA, and dsDNA! This shreds all the nucleic acid in the cell, causing growth arrest and cell death.

Watch out for updates as the rest of my data becomes available!

Cas12a2 elicits abortive infection through RNA-triggered destruction of dsDNA - Nature RNA targeting by the Sulfuricurvum type V single-effector nuclease SuCas12a2 drives abortive infection through non-specific cleavage of double-stranded DNA—after recognition of an RNA target through a...

Contents:
Ch.1 review regulating mechanisms Of CRISPR systems
Ch.2 Detailed methods (submitted)
Ch.3 Cas12a2 activity (www.nature.com/articles/s41...)
Ch.4 Cas12a2 structure (www.nature.com/articles/s41...)
Ch.5 Substrate preference (submitted)
Ch.6 Activation mechanism of Cas12a2 (preparation)

My PhD research focused on studying new bacterial immune systems, specifically, new CRISPR systems. Most people think of CRISPR as a genome editor, but it started as a way for bacteria to defend against viruses.

Because my dissertation contains some exciting data yet to be published it is currently under embargo (sorry no downloads 'til 2029), I want to give a quick overview of my work.

What a moment! My PhD dissertation is finally finished! 🥳

digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd2023/383/

Classic

Especially this time of year, on the oregon coast, you can never be sure. Always happy for sunny days

Common sense is woefully uncommon :/ hopefully we can keep schools around at least until it is...

Classic

🎨 In case anyone need…

The NIH BioArt Source is an awesome library of *free* professionally drawn illustrations for scientific presentations or figures. Downloadable in HD. Thank you NIH for this invaluable tool 🙏!

Check it out 👇
bioart.niaid.nih.gov

Nice!

The first two: bottom of the first overlaps with the top of the second and rescaled?

I have really loved the starter packs. The other place was so hard to find people to connect with!

They gotta prove they're a real person

Thanks! It was very helpful!

Welcome!

Thanks! New here so I appreciate the help😊

Hello BlueSky! Young scientist looking to connect. Anybody interested in bacterial immunity, structural biology or microscopy?