undergraduate RESEARCH

Improving the Safety of CRISPR Gene Editing

Gene editors that aim to target a specific region of human DNA can unintentionally alter DNA that resembles the intended target. Since 2019, I have conducted research in Dr. Keith Joung's Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital to develop methods that better characterize the precision of genome editing technologies and the safety of their use in human therapeutics; critical as CRISPR revolutionizes precision medicine. We have developed a wet-lab assay called ONE-seq, which leverages advances in synthetic biology to precisely define and detect the accidental, off-target effects gene editing can produce, and are currently drafting a manuscript for publication.

ONE-seq workflow

A national analysis of the U.S.'s Urban Treescape preprint here

In Summer 2020, I worked with Harvard's Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Department to create the first-ever, tree-level snapshot of street tree diversity and distribution across the U.S. To do this, I obtained, joined, and cleaned tree inventories from the 150 most populous cities in the U.S. Our analysis measured the species diversity and spatial organization of street trees to understand how their ecosystem services are distributed among all city inhabitants.

Access to urban trees improves human health, is critical to many ecological communities, and mitigates the effects of climate change via carbon capture, shade, and the filtering of air pollutants. Our analysis uses Census data on income and urban heat islands to examine how street tree access correlates with wealth and other demographic factors. Street trees are maintained and often planted by local governments. Through creating the first national snapshot of the U.S.'s urban treescape at this resolution -- and creating an accompanying interactive website visualizing the data -- we hope to empower city planners to make decisions that promote the flourishing of all members of city ecosystems. A draft of this manuscript, which I co-authored, has been accepted for review in a peer-reviewed publication (preprint here).