Kevin Wasko
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kevinwasko.bsky.social
Kevin Wasko
@kevinwasko.bsky.social
PhD candidate @ UC Berkeley
Characterization & delivery of CRISPR proteins
Reposted by Kevin Wasko
New from Ugrappa Nagalakshmi and Jorge Rodriguez 🌱✂️– Gene editing in plants just got a lot easier! Using engineered TnpB, they demonstrate high-efficiency, heritable, transgene-free editing in plants. (1/7)
December 22, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Kevin Wasko
Excited to share our first work on protein design! Huge thanks to the entire team, and especially to Bel, Evan, to the Doudna, Jacobsen, Cate, Banfield labs, all co-authors, and my D-lab mates! 💫
✨New preprint!

🧵1/4 Excited to share our work on AI-guided design of minimal RNA-guided nucleases. Amazing work by @petrskopintsev.bsky.social @isabelesain.bsky.social @evandeturk.bsky.social et al!
Multi-lab collaboration @banfieldlab.bsky.social @jhdcate.bsky.social @jacobsenucla.bsky.social🧬

🔗👇
December 9, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Kevin Wasko
Our nuclease-protease story is out! We explored a fascinating case of coevolution and modularity in prokaryotic immune systems: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Thanks to wonderful coauthors/collaborators/friends, the whole @doudna-lab.bsky.social and everyone at @innovativegenomics.bsky.social
Recurrent acquisition of nuclease-protease pairs in antiviral immunity
Antiviral immune systems diversify by integrating new genes into existing pathways, creating new mechanisms of viral resistance. We identified genes encoding a predicted nuclease paired with a trypsin...
www.science.org
November 13, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Reposted by Kevin Wasko
Now online at @nature.com we show how the Panoptes defense system protects against viruses that attempt immune evasion - and expands our understanding of the role of oligonucleotides in immunity.

Check out this work co-led with @benadler.bsky.social here:

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A miniature CRISPR–Cas10 enzyme confers immunity by inhibitory signalling - Nature
Panoptes, an anti-phage defence system against virus-mediated immune suppression, is revealed.
www.nature.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Reposted by Kevin Wasko
Excited to finally share this work!
We noticed a pair of genes - a nuclease and a protease - shuffles between antiviral systems. We show how proteolysis activates the nuclease, triggering defense in known and unknown immune contexts.
tinyurl.com/2uwwy4ty
Recurrent acquisition of nuclease-protease pairs in antiviral immunity
Antiviral immune systems diversify by integrating new genes into existing pathways, creating new mechanisms of viral resistance. We identified genes encoding a predicted nuclease paired with a trypsin...
tinyurl.com
July 29, 2025 at 3:48 PM