Lucks Lab

We developed and optimized a one-pot NASBA-Cas13a assay for rapid, point-of-care nucleic acid detection, combining isothermal amplification of viral RNA with Cas13a-based detection. By formulating NASBA in-house, establishing design rules for primers and guide RNAs, and integrating high-throughput experiments with mechanistic modeling, we achieved highly sensitive SARS-CoV-2 detection and built a framework to understand and optimize nucleic acid detection reactions.

We designed a generalizable, automated cell-free workflow to optimize gene expression assays, enabling rapid design-build-test-learn cycles with high precision and flexibility. Using this platform, we engineered and screened thousands of transcription factor variants for mercury and cadmium biosensors in under 48 hours, improving sensitivity, selectivity, and dynamic range, and demonstrating a scalable approach to accelerate synthetic biology workflows.

We engineered a rapid cell-free platform to create allosteric transcription factor biosensors with enhanced sensitivity, selectivity, and dynamic range. Using this approach, we redesigned PbrR to detect lead at environmentally relevant concentrations, creating a practical, on-demand cell-free biosensor, and demonstrating a workflow that can be applied to engineer a wide range of aTFs.

This study analyzes survey data from 148,585 individuals across 141 countries to understand perceptions of drinking water safety and self-reported anticipated harm. We find that over half of adults expect serious harm from drinking water, highlighting the importance of trust and governance in promoting safe and sustainable water use.