The Marraffini Lab is working on the problem of drug resistant Staphylococcus by characterizing the mechanisms used by these pathogens to defend against bacteria-killing viruses (bacteriophage). Bacteriophage treatment of staphylococcal infections hold great therapeutic promise, but it is challenged by the presence of bacterial anti-viral defense systems that the Marraffini lab is seeking to understand.
CRISPR-Cas systems enable bacteria to acquire immunity against their viruses by capturing snippets of their DNA and using RNA-guided nucleases that cleave the viral DNA. Marraffini investigates the molecular mechanisms that make CRISPR immunity possible, and also explores genome editing and other potential applications for CRISPR-Cas systems.
