A blond man with glasses

Akos Nyerges, Ph.D.

Nyerges Lab

Our lab at Harvard Medical School works at the interface of directed evolution, synthetic genomics, and protein engineering. We rewrite genomes and reassign codons to equip engineered cells with functions inaccessible to natural organisms: complete resistance to natural viruses, escape-free containment of cells and their transgenes, and ribosomal synthesis of polymers, peptides, and biologic drugs with chemistries beyond the canonical amino-acid alphabet.

We are exploring how the genetic code can be radically rewritten — establishing genetic firewalls that make engineered cells resistant to all natural viruses and biocontain their genetic information from the natural ecosystem — and harnessing these advances for drug discovery and delivery. We strive to translate our findings and technologies into next-generation therapeutics and secure biotechnologies.

Synthetic genomes unveil the effects of synonymous recoding.
Authors: Authors: Nyerges A, Chiappino-Pepe A, Budnik B, Baas-Thomas M, Flynn R, Yan S, Ostrov N, Liu M, Wang M, Zheng Q, Hu F, Chen K, Rudolph A, Chen D, Ahn J, Spencer O, Ayalavarapu V, Tarver A, Harmon-Smith M, Hamilton M, Blaby I, Yoshikuni Y, Hajian B, Jin A, Kintses B, Szamel M, Seregi V, Shen Y, Li Z, Church GM.
bioRxiv
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Strategies to identify and edit improvements in synthetic genome segments episomally.
Authors: Authors: Rudolph A, Nyerges A, Chiappino-Pepe A, Landon M, Baas-Thomas M, Church G.
Nucleic Acids Res
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A swapped genetic code prevents viral infections and gene transfer.
Authors: Authors: Nyerges A, Vinke S, Flynn R, Owen SV, Rand EA, Budnik B, Keen E, Narasimhan K, Marchand JA, Baas-Thomas M, Liu M, Chen K, Chiappino-Pepe A, Hu F, Baym M, Church GM.
Nature
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Characterization of antibiotic resistomes by reprogrammed bacteriophage-enabled functional metagenomics in clinical strains.
Authors: Authors: Apjok G, Számel M, Christodoulou C, Seregi V, Vásárhelyi BM, Stirling T, Eszenyi B, Sári T, Vidovics F, Nagrand E, Kovács D, Szili P, Lantos II, Méhi O, Jangir PK, Herczeg R, Gálik B, Urbán P, Gyenesei A, Draskovits G, Nyerges Á, Fekete G, Bodai L, Zsindely N, Dénes B, Yosef I, Qimron U, Papp B, Pál C, Kintses B.
Nat Microbiol
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inPOSE: A Flexible Toolbox for Chromosomal Cloning and Amplification of Bacterial Transgenes.
Authors: Authors: Shukla RD, Zvara Á, Avramucz Á, Biketova AY, Nyerges A, Puskás LG, Fehér T.
Microorganisms
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ssDNA recombineering boosts in vivo evolution of nanobodies displayed on bacterial surfaces.
Authors: Authors: Al-Ramahi Y, Nyerges A, Margolles Y, Cerdán L, Ferenc G, Pál C, Fernández LÁ, de Lorenzo V.
Commun Biol
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Corrigendum to: Limited evolutionary conservation of multidrug resistance and collateral sensitivity.
Authors: Authors: Apjok G, Boross G, Nyerges Á, Fekete G, Lázár V, Papp B, Pál C, Csörgo B.
Mol Biol Evol
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New dual ATP-competitive inhibitors of bacterial DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV active against ESKAPE pathogens.
Authors: Authors: Durcik M, Nyerges Á, Skok Ž, Skledar DG, Trontelj J, Zidar N, Ilaš J, Zega A, Cruz CD, Tammela P, Welin M, Kimbung YR, Focht D, Benek O, Révész T, Draskovits G, Szili PÉ, Daruka L, Pál C, Kikelj D, Mašic LP, Tomašic T.
Eur J Med Chem
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Recombineering and MAGE.
Authors: Authors: Wannier TM, Ciaccia PN, Ellington AD, Filsinger GT, Isaacs FJ, Javanmardi K, Jones MA, Kunjapur AM, Nyerges A, Pal C, Schubert MG, Church GM.
Nat Rev Methods Primers
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Hybrid Inhibitors of DNA Gyrase A and B: Design, Synthesis and Evaluation.
Authors: Authors: Durcik M, Skok Ž, Ilaš J, Zidar N, Zega A, Szili PÉ, Draskovits G, Révész T, Kikelj D, Nyerges A, Pál C, Mašic LP, Tomašic T.
Pharmaceutics
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