UGUniversity of Georgia · Biochemistry
Bacterial Immunity and CRISPR Research Lab
Michael P Terns · Athens, Georgia
Research Focus
Dr. Michael P Terns' lab focuses on understanding how bacteria defend themselves against viruses using CRISPR-Cas systems and how viruses counter these defenses. They study the molecular mechanisms behind these interactions to enhance CRISPR technologies for medical applications. The ultimate goal is to apply this knowledge to improve tools for gene editing, disease diagnosis, and combating antibiotic resistance.
CRISPRanti-CRISPR proteinsbacterial immunitygene editingantibiotic resistancemolecular mechanismsbiotechnologyvirus-host interactionsRNA-based immune systemspathogen detection
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate the molecular basis of bacterial immune pathways.
AIM 02Characterize how viruses use anti-CRISPR proteins against CRISPR defenses.
AIM 03Develop innovative CRISPR-based tools for biomedical research.
AIM 04Expand knowledge to improve gene editing technologies.
AIM 05Explore applications for diagnosing and treating human diseases.
Skills the Lab Values
PCRmolecular cloningRNA isolationprotein purificationbiochemical assaysstructural biology techniquesgenome sequencingcell culturebioinformaticsCRISPR-Cas technology
Output against the department
Publications119bottom 32% of dept.273rd of 402
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations16ktop 29% of dept.117th of 402
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.