The Lucks Laboratory
Uncovering the principles of molecular design for biology, medicine and biotechnology
The Lucks lab focuses on 4 main research areas:
General research description: We are a group of energetic scientists driven to understand and improve our relationship with the natural world. Our molecule of interest, RNA, is similar to DNA, but is more versatile within the cell. We study how the structure of RNA plays a role in its cellular jobs, how cells use molecules like RNA to monitor and respond to their changing environments, and how we can use these molecules in cell-free systems to monitor our own environments for health and sustainability.
News articles:
Northwestern University scientists sprint to develop new kind of rapid coronavirus test – Chicago Tribune
Simple test could prevent fluoride-related disease – Science Daily
Recent Publications
RNA folding kinetics control riboswitch sensitivity in vivo.
D. Z. Bushhouse, J. Fu, J. B. Lucks. Nature Communications (2025). doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-55601-3
Links: Journal, PDF
A cell-free biosensor signal amplification circuit with polymerase strand recycling.
Y. Li, T. J. Lucci, M. Villarruel Dujovne, J. K. Jung, D. A. Capdevila, J. B. Lucks. Nature Chemical Biology (2025). doi: 110.1038/s41589-024-01816-w
Links: Journal, PDF
Developing, Characterizing, and Modeling CRISPR-Based Point-of-Use Pathogen Diagnostics.
J. K. Jung, K. S. Dreyer, K. E. Dray, J. J. Muldoon, J. George, S. Shirman, M. D. Cabezas, A. E. d’Aquino, M. S. Verosloff, K. Seki, G. A. Rybnicky, K. K. Alam, N. Bagheri, M. C. Jewett, J. N. Leonard, N. M. Mangan, J. B. Lucks. ACS Synthetic Biology (2025). doi: 10.1021/acssynbio.4c00469
Links: Journal, PDF
A Sensor for Detecting Aqueous Cu2+ That Functions in a Just-Add-Water Format.
T. J. Lucci, A. Neufarth, J-F Gaillard, J. B. Lucks. ACS Omega (2024). doi: 10.1021/acsomega.4c08751
Links: Journal, PDF
Deconstructing synthetic biology across scales: a conceptual approach for training synthetic biologists.
A. S. Karim, D. M. Brown, C. M. Archuleta, S Grannan, L Aristilde, Y Goyal, J. N. Leonard, N. M. Mangan, A. Prindle, G. J. Rocklin, K. J. Tyo, L. Zoloth, M. C. Jewett, S. Calkins, N. P. Kamat, D. Tullman-Ercek, J. B. Lucks. Nature Communications (2024). doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-49626-x
Links: Journal
The Effect of Pseudoknot Base Pairing on Cotranscriptional Structural Switching of the Fluoride Riboswitch.
L. M. Hertz, E. N. White, K. Kuznedelov, L. Cheng, A. M. Yu, R. Kakkaramadam, K. Severinov, A. Chen, J. B Lucks. Nucleic Acids Research (2024). doi: 10.1101/2023.12.05.570056
Links: Journal, BioRxiv
Dynamic RNA synthetic biology: new principles, practices and potential.
Y. Li, A. Arce#, T. Lucci#, R. A. Rasmussen#, J. B. Lucks. RNA Biology (2023). doi: 10.1080/15476286.2023.2269508
#These authors contributed equally
Links: Journal
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