Pavana Khan, Lauren M Aufdembrink, Aaron E Engelhart ACS Synth. Biol. 2020, 9, 11, 2861–2880 The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, poses grave threats to both the global economy and health. The predominant diagnostic screens in use for SARS-CoV-2 detection are molecular techniques […]
Category: Publications
Highly specific, multiplexed isothermal pathogen detection with fluorescent aptamer readout
Lauren M Aufdembrink, Pavana Khan, Nathaniel J Gaut, Katarzyna P Adamala, Aaron E Engelhart RNA 2020. 26: 1283-1290 Isothermal, cell-free, synthetic biology-based approaches to pathogen detection leverage the power of tools available in biological systems, such as highly active polymerases compatible with lyophilization, without the […]
Mars as a Prebiotic Chemistry Laboratory: A Martian RNA World?
T Hoog, N Gaut, MR Pawlak, BF Bachan, AE Engelhart Mars Extant Life: What’s Next? Held 5-8 November, 2019 in Carlsbad, New Mexico. LPI Contribution No. 2108, 2019, id.5098 Here we report our investigations of the behavior of nucleic acids in the presence of high […]
Methods for thermal denaturation studies of nucleic acids in complex with fluorogenic dyes
Lauren M Aufdembrink, Tanner G Hoog, Matthew R Pawlak, Benjamin F Bachan, Joseph M Heili, Aaron E Engelhart Methods in Enzymology Volume 623, 2019, Pages 23-43 Thermal denaturation is a common technique in the biophysical study of nucleic acids. These experiments are typically performed by […]
Catalysis of template-directed nonenzymatic RNA copying by Iron (II)
Lin Jin, Aaron E Engelhart, Weicheng Zhang, Katarzyna Adamala, Jack W Szostak J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 44, 15016–15021 The study of nonenzymatic template-directed RNA copying is the experimental basis for the search for chemistry and reaction conditions consistent with prebiotic RNA replication. The […]
Real-Time Visualization of in Vitro Transcription of a Fluorescent RNA Aptamer: An Experiment for the Upper-Division Undergraduate or First-Year Graduate Laboratory
Joseph M Heili, Jose Gomez-Garcia, Nathaniel J Gaut, Brock W Cash, Lauren M Aufdembrink, Brent A Heffron, Joshua D Shirley, Erin E Carlson, Katarzyna P Adamala, Aaron E Engelhart Journal of Chemical Education, 2018, 95, 10, 1867–1871 A teaching laboratory experiment is described where students […]
Preparation, Purification, and Use of Fatty Acid-containing Liposomes (Journal of Visualized Experiments 2018)
Preparation, Purification, and Use of Fatty Acid-containing Liposomes (News and Views) Aaron E. Engelhart Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2018. doi:10.3791/57324 Publisher | ResearchGate | PubMed | Google Scholar | Free Readcube Link to Paper Liposomes containing single-chain amphiphiles, particularly fatty acids, exhibit distinct properties compared […]
RNA imaging: A tale of two G-quadruplexes (Nature Chemical Biology 2017) (News and Views)
RNA imaging: A tale of two G-quadruplexes (News and Views) Aaron E. Engelhart Nature Chemical Biology, 2017. doi:10.1038/nchembio.2492 Publisher | ResearchGate | PubMed | Google Scholar | Free Readcube Link to Paper This News and Views piece from our lab accompanies the the publication of […]
Collaboration between primitive cell membranes and soluble catalysts (Nature Communications 2016)
Collaboration between primitive cell membranes and soluble catalysts Katarzyna P. Adamala, Aaron E. Engelhart (joint first author), and Jack W. Szostak Nature Communications, 2016. doi:10.1038/ncomms11041 Publisher | ResearchGate | PubMed | Google Scholar Scientific Abstract One widely held model of early life suggests primitive cells […]
A simple physical mechanism enables homeostasis in primitive cells (Nature Chemistry 2016)
A simple physical mechanism enables homeostasis in primitive cells Aaron E. Engelhart, Katarzyna P. Adamala, and Jack W. Szostak Nature Chemistry, 2016. doi:10.1038/nchem.2475 Publisher | ResearchGate | PubMed | Google Scholar Featured in: Chemistry World | Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News | MGH Press Release Scientific Abstract The emergence […]