Ryan Jackson
Biochemistry
Associate Professor
Contact Information
Office Location: WIDT 345Phone: (435) 797-1635
Email: ryan.jackson@usu.edu
Additional Information:
Educational Background
Licensures & Certifications
Biography
I use structural, biochemical, and cell-based methods to determine the structure and function of newly discovered bacterial immune systems (eg. CRISPR). My research uncovers biological mechanisms that can be repurposed as novel biotechnologies in science, agriculture, and medicine.
Teaching Interests
I teach undergraduate and graduate courses that emphasize molecular structure, molecular interactions, the biochemical basis of gene expression, and the function of bacterial immune systems (e.g., CRISPR-Cas). I currently teach biophysical chemistry (CHEM 5070), the biochemistry laboratory I (CHEM 5715), the biochemical basis of gene expression (CHEM 6780), and special topics courses (CHEM 7770). I am aslo a faculty mentor for the second half of our biochemistry lab series (CHEM 5720). In addition to teaching in the classroom, I mentor graduate and undergraduate students in the research lab and teach high school students about cutting-edge biotechnologies in collaboration with GEAR-UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) in a yearly summer camp and high school classroom visits.
Research Interests
We use biophysical, structural, microbiological, and biochemical techniques to study the structure and function of bacterial immune systems, and the counterstrategies viruses use to evade them. Our current research aims to determine the structure and function of newly discovered CRISPR systems (e.g. types IV and V).
Awards
R. Gaurth Hansen Professorship, 2023
Hansen Family
Nominated for Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year, 2021
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, USU
Maximizing Investigators' Research Award for Early Stage Investigators , 2020
NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences
ACS meeting travel award, 2016
American Chemical Society
NIH (NIGMS) Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award, 2014
National Institutes of Health
X-ray Methods in Structural Biology Course Scholarship, 2013
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Thomas F. Emery Research Scholar, 2011
Dept. of Chem and Biochem Utah State University
Graduate Student Senate Enhancement Award, 2010
Graduate Student Senate - Utah State University
Marjorie H Gardner Teaching Award, 2009
Dept. of Chem and Biochem Utah State University
Center for Integrated Biotechnology Research Student Grant (CIBR) , 2007
Utah State University
B.S. Cum Laude, 2005
Utah State University
Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities Grant (URCO), 2004
Utah State University
John R. Simmons Endowed Scholarship, 2001
Dept. of Biology - Utah State University
Dr. Joseph E. Greaves Memorial Scholarship, 2001
College of Science - Utah State University
- Williams, A., Redman, O., Domgaard, H., Armbrust, M., Jackson, R., Jackson, R., (2025). Determining the biochemical function of type IV CRISPR ribonucleoprotein complexes and accessory proteins: Methods in Enzymology. Elsevier Inc.
- Williams, A., Redman, O., Domgaard, H., Armbrust, M., Jackson, R., Jackson, R., (2025). Determining the biochemical function of type IV CRISPR ribonucleoprotein complexes and accessory proteins: Methods in Enzymology. Elsevier Inc.
- Schut, F., Hallmark, T., Dmytrenko, O., Jackson, R., Beisel, C., (2025). Purification and in vivo, cell-free, and in vitro characterization of CRISPR-Cas12a2. Elsevier
Publications | Book Chapters
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Journal Articles
Academic Journal
- Hallmark, T., Williams, A., Redman, O., Guinn, B., Judd, C., Jackson, R., (2024). The N-terminal domain of Type IV-A1 CRISPR-associated DinG is vulnerable to proteolysis. microPublication Biology, doi: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001226
- Jackson, R.N, (2023). RNA targeting unleashes indiscriminate nuclease activity of CRISPR-Cas12a2. Nature, 613, 582-587. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05560-w
- Taylor, H.N, Laderman, E., Armbrust, M., Hallmark, T., Bondy-Denomy, J., Jackson, R.N, (2021). Positioning Diverse Type IV Structures and Functions Within Class 1 CRISPR-Cas Systems. Frontiers in Microbiology, 12, doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.671522
- Crowley, V.M, Catching, A., Taylor, H.N, Borges, A.L, Metcalf, J., Bondy-Denomy, J., Jackson, R., (2019). A Type IV-A CRISPR-Cas System in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Mediates RNA-Guided Plasmid Interference In Vivo. The CRISPR Journal
- Taylor, H.N, Warner, E.E, Armbrust, M.J, Crowley, V.M, Olsen, K.J, Jackson, R., (2019). Structural basis of Type IV CRISPR RNA biogenesis by a Cas6 endoribonuclease. RNA biology, 16:10, 1438--1447.
- Künne, T., Zhu, Y., da Silva, F., Konstantinides, N., McKenzie, R.E, Jackson, R., Brouns, S.J, (2018). Role of nucleotide identity in effective CRISPR target escape mutations.. Nucleic acids research, 46:19, 10395-10404.
- van Erp PBG, , Patterson, A., Kant, R., Berry, L., Golden, S.M, Forsman, B.L, Carter, J., Jackson, R., Bothner, B., Wiedenheft, B., (2018). Conformational Dynamics of DNA Binding and Cas3 Recruitment by the CRISPR RNA-Guided Cascade Complex.. ACS chemical biology, 13:2, 481-490. doi: doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.7b00649
- Jackson, R., van Erp, P.B, Sternberg, S.H, Wiedenheft, B., (2017). Conformational Regulation of CRISPR-associated Nucleases. Current Opinion in Microbiology, 37, 110-119. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mib.2017.05.010
- Chowdhury, S., Carter, J., Rollins, M.F, Jackson, R.N, Hoffman, C., Nosaka, L., Bondy-Denomy, J., Davidson, A.R, Fischer, E.R, Lander, G.C, Wiedenheft, B., (2017). Structure reveals mechanisms of viral suppressors that intercept a CRISPR RNA-guided surveillance complex. Cell, 169:1, 47-57.
- Luo, M.L, Jackson, R., Denny, S.R, Tokmina-Lukaszewska, M., Maksimchuk, K.R, Lin, W., Bothner, B., Wiedenheft, B., Beisel, C.L, (2016). The CRISPR RNA-guided surveillance complex in Escherichia coli accommodates extended RNA spacers. Nucleic Acids Research, 44:15, 7385-94.
- van Erp, P.B, Jackson, R.N, Carter, J., Golden, S.M, Bailey, S., Wiedenheft, B., (2015). Mechanism of CRISPR-RNA guided recognition of DNA targets in Escherichia coli. Nucleic Acids Research, 43:17, 8381-91.
- Jackson, R., McCoy, A.J, Terwilliger, T.C, Read, R.J, Wiedenheft, B., (2015). X-ray structure determination using low-resolution electron microscopy maps for molecular replacement. Nature Protocols, 10:9, 1275-84.
- Jackson, R., Wiedenheft, B., (2015). A Conserved Structural Chassis for Mounting Versatile CRISPR RNA-Guided Immune Responses. Molecular Cell, 58:5, 722-8.
- Taylor, L.L, Jackson, R., Rexhepaj, M., King, A.K, Lott, L.K, van Hoof, A., Johnson, S.J, (2014). The Mtr4 ratchet helix and arch domain both function to promote RNA unwinding. Nucleic Acids Research, 42:22, 13861-72.
- Jackson, R., Golden, S.M, van Erp, P.B, Carter, J., Westra, E.R, Brouns, S.J, van der Oost, J., Terwilliger, T.C, Read, R.J, Wiedenheft, B., (2014). Structural biology. Crystal structure of the CRISPR RNA-guided surveillance complex from Escherichia coli. Science, 345:6203, 1473-9.
- van der Oost, J., Westra, E.R, Jackson, R., Wiedenheft, B., (2014). Unravelling the structural and mechanistic basis of CRISPR-Cas systems. Nature Reviews. Microbiology, 12:7, 479-92.
- Jackson, R.N, Lavin, M., Carter, J., Wiedenheft, B., (2014). Fitting CRISPR-associated Cas3 into the Helicase Family Tree. Current Opinion in Structural Biology, 24, 106-14.
- Westra, E.R, Semenova, E., Datsenko, K.A, Jackson, R., Wiedenheft, B., Severinov, K., Brouns, S.J, (2013). Type I-E CRISPR-cas systems discriminate target from non-target DNA through base pairing-independent PAM recognition. PLoS Genetics, 9:9, e1003742.
- Johnson, S.J, Jackson, R., (2013). Ski2-like RNA helicase structures: common themes and complex assemblies. RNA Biology, 10:1, 33-43.
- Jackson, R., Klauer, A.A, Hintze, B.J, Robinson, H., van Hoof, A., Johnson, S.J, (2010). The crystal structure of Mtr4 reveals a novel arch domain required for rRNA processing. The EMBO Journal, 29:13, 2205-16.
Professional Journal
- Dmytrenko, O., Yuan, B., Crosby, K.T, Krebel, M., Nowak, J.S, Chramiec-Glabik, A., Filani, B., Gribling-Burrer, A., van der Toorn, W., von Kleist, M., Smyth, R.P, Glatt, S., Bravo, J.P, Heinz, D.W, Jackson, R., Beisel, C.L, (2026). RNA-triggered Cas12a3 cleaves tRNA tails to execute bacterial immunity. Nature, Only online at this time. , doi: https://doi-org.dist.lib.usu.edu/10.1038/s41586-025-09852-9
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Other
Other
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.