Jihoon Han @jihoon-han.bsky.social · 05/10/2026New since the preprint: ratiometric Detectrons pair an infection-responsive DNA barcode with a constitutive reference barcode in the same strain. Their ratio lets us compare T7 susceptibility across six E. coli genotypes in one pooled assay (Fig. 6). 000
Jihoon Han @jihoon-han.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Detectrons are now published in Nature Biotechnology! Programmable RNA sensing meets DNA barcode production in living bacteria. www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comDetectrons convert transient RNA sequences into stable DNA barcodes for high-throughput analysis of RNA-dependent processes - Nature BiotechnologyRNA sequences are detected and converted directly into DNA barcodes. 170
Jihoon Han @jihoon-han.bsky.social · 18/02/2026Huge thanks to everyone in the Shipman lab — especially Seth Shipman, Alex Gonzalez Delgado, Kate Crawford (now at Baker lab) — and Katie Pollard for helpful discussions. We’re excited to keep exploring where this technology can go. 010
Jihoon Han @jihoon-han.bsky.social · 18/02/2026Detectrons are, to our knowledge, the first synthetic system that directly converts RNA signals into DNA records — linking transient RNA detection to stable sequence-encoded outputs. 120
Jihoon Han @jihoon-han.bsky.social · 18/02/2026We then used Detectrons to measure host susceptibility to phage infection. Dual DNA barcoding lets us track phage + host identity simultaneously in one pooled experiment. Sequencing revealed strain-specific susceptibility in a single experiment. 110
Jihoon Han @jihoon-han.bsky.social · 18/02/2026The optimized Detectron design dramatically improved signal strength and specificity, and generalized across multiple phage RNA targets. 120
Jihoon Han @jihoon-han.bsky.social · 18/02/2026We built a large synthetic library (~7,800 variants) and used machine learning to identify structural design rules that improve ON/OFF performance. 110
Jihoon Han @jihoon-han.bsky.social · 18/02/2026DNA outputs are stable, sequence-encoded, and easy to multiplex by sequencing — making them ideal for pooled assays and scalable screening. 110
Jihoon Han @jihoon-han.bsky.social · 18/02/2026Detectrons combine two programmable systems: • toehold switches → RNA sensing • retrons → DNA synthesis RNA trigger → DNA barcode output. 110
Jihoon Han @jihoon-han.bsky.social · 18/02/2026Many RNA sensors report through proteins (fluorescence, enzymes, etc.). That makes large-scale multiplexing and long-term recording difficult. We asked: can RNA detection directly generate DNA instead? 110
Jihoon Han @jihoon-han.bsky.social · 18/02/2026Excited to share a preprint from my postdoc work in Shipman’s lab! We developed Detectrons — programmable biosensors that convert RNA signals into stable DNA barcodes inside living cells, enabling multiplexed RNA sensing. 🧵👇 biorxiv.org/content/10.6...biorxiv.org 2113