iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Deepak Krishnamurthy

Fletcher Lab @fletcherlabucb.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

What if you had a light-triggered starting gun for #CRISPR diagnostics? Meet LUCas, a light-controlled #Cas13a system that stays silent until you need it. Now published in @narjournal.bsky.social. Congrats to all the authors! #moleculardiagnostics academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

academic.oup.com

LUCas: Light-Uncaged Cas13a using photocleavable interfering guide RNAs

Abstract. CRISPR diagnostics enable sensitive detection of infectious diseases, with the RNA endonuclease Cas13a providing specific, amplification-free RNA

073

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Huge thanks to @schmidtsciences.bsky.social and the @bwfund.bsky.social CASI award; and especially to my parents, partner and extended village across two countries. More soon! 8/8

000

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I’m deeply grateful to mentors Ganesh Subramanian, Manu Prakash @prakashlab.bsky.social , Dan Fletcher @fletcherlabucb.bsky.social and Nicole King. 7/8

100

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

We’re hiring! Searches for a research technician and postdoc will open soon for spring 2027 starts. I’d also love to hear from current Berkeley grads interested in rotations/co-mentored projects, and prospective students applying to Berkeley MechE for fall 2027. 6/8

100

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

To make these hidden phenomena measurable, we’ll take a "build it if it doesn’t exist" approach: multiscale microscopy, high-throughput force manipulation and molecular biophysics tools. We’ll bring experiments, theory and computation together across biophysics, engineering and ocean science. 5/8

100

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

We’ll also study how interactions among microbes and their environment cascade through ocean ecosystems. We will explore how cells move, adhere and interact with fluid flows to shape carbon-carrying particles that sink through the ocean and help regulate carbon transport. 4/8

100

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

One initial focus will be loricate choanoflagellates. We aim to establish these remarkable single-celled critters as a model for biomaterial assembly, adhesion “in the wild,” biomineralization and bottom-up manufacturing. 3/8

110

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Microbes sustain life on our planet. The Deep Lab will ask how interactions between microbes, biomaterials and fluid flows give rise to structures that shape ecosystems and climate, from cell-directed biomaterial assembly to carbon transport through the ocean. 2/8

100

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Thrilled to share that I’ll be starting as an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley in January 2027! @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social @berkeleyengineer.bsky.social I’ll be launching the Deep Lab for Microbial Biomechanics. 🧵 1/8

3276

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

@thibautbrunet.bsky.social I can confirm this finding. They just keep expanding!!

120

Reposted by Deepak Krishnamurthy

Thibaut Brunet @thibautbrunet.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

We are continuing our efforts at iterative expansion microscopy of loricate choanos. Not only does the lorica expand, it seems you can iterate expansion pretty much infinitely. Here’s our latest - incredibly, it expanded to macroscopic size! #ProtistsOnSky

5735

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

OMG! This is insane, and something I have wondered about ever since the last choanoCon. Crazy that you guys have demonstrayed ExM in loricates and the structure actually expands without rupturing. Would love to chat more since this tallies with some of our mechanics measurements!

110

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Excited to be at the APS March Meeting/Global Physics Summit to give an invited talk. "Emerging Measurement Tools for Applied Biophysics and Soft Matter” session. Friday 8 AM, Convention Center, Bluebird 2E. Would be great to connect with folks attending who are still around tomorrow!

010

Reposted by Deepak Krishnamurthy

Fletcher Lab @fletcherlabucb.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Check out our latest preprint: LUCas! A direct light control of Cas13 trans-cleavage activity. Congrats to all the authors: Carlos (@carlosfng.bsky.social), Deepak (@deepakkrish.bsky.social), Andres, and Aymeric. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

085

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Thanks @flamholz.bsky.social !!! It was amazing and enriching to visit, and learn about the amazing science @rockefeller.edu.

010

Reposted by Deepak Krishnamurthy

Avi Flamholz @flamholz.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Was great to host @deepakkrish.bsky.social at @rockefeller.edu this week. Thanks for the conversation and phenomenal talk.

091

Reposted by Deepak Krishnamurthy

Meera Sundaram @meera-sundaram.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

This was a great talk, so interesting !

011

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

Super excited to be speaking at ASCB tomorrow at the "Cell Biology at the Extremes" session on our work on loricate choanoflagellates. In this talk I will explore "How can a single cell build complex extracellular structures in a noisy environment?" Saturday, December 6 from 11 AM Room 120.

120

Reposted by Deepak Krishnamurthy

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

Liking this Oceanography feed and getting five others to like it will bring you good luck. 🍀

38919

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

This story highlights the ever-present tension between the way of "observation" (you can learn a lot by just watching) and "measurement" (which invokes in some sense a perturbation of what is measured)... But, why should one choose? To me as a scientist, there is joy and power in both approaches!

000

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

This video (linked in the above blog as well) from Mary Silver is also fascinating www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WB-...

100

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

This is a great read on the history of "marine snow": the ubiquitous underwater phenomenon, which Rachel Carson called "the most stupendous snow fall on earth". This constant rain of biological debris is critical in the ocean's ability to sequester carbon. www.nature.com/scitable/blo...

nature.com

Marine Snow Days | Saltwater Science

Marine snow isn't made of water, like regular snow. Instead, it is made up of "detritus," which is a fancy word for gunk. This gunk is a slimy mix of dead organisms, diatoms, sand, dust, and the slimy...

100

Deepak Krishnamurthy @deepakkrish.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Thanks to @schmidtfellows.bsky.social for this amazing opportunity to share my science and my sense of wonder about our oceans. This ended up being a fantastic learning experience.

030