{"id":5263,"date":"2026-05-13T15:01:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/?post_type=profiles&#038;p=5263"},"modified":"2026-08-12T08:10:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T12:10:57","slug":"ashley-blake","status":"publish","type":"profiles","link":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/profiles\/ashley-blake\/","title":{"rendered":"Ashley Blake"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"599\" src=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Blake-Ashley.jpg\" alt=\"by Corban Swain\" class=\"wp-image-5576\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1;object-fit:cover;width:200px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Blake-Ashley.jpg 400w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Blake-Ashley-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Clemson University<\/strong><br>Faculty Advisor: Prof. Mark Bathe<br>Research Supervisors: Grant Knappe, Anna Romanov<br>Department: Biological Engineering<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:0px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Biography<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ashley Blake is a senior at Clemson University pursuing a B.S. in Chemical Engineering<br>with a concentration in Biomolecular Engineering. This summer, she is an MSRP intern in<br>the Bathe laboratory, where she is investigating DNA origami as a platform for gene therapy<br>delivery. Her interest in drug delivery began during the COVID-19 pandemic when she<br>realized that the success of mRNA vaccines depended as much on the design of the delivery<br>vehicle as the therapeutic itself. Ashley has conducted research spanning biomaterials, drug<br>delivery, and gene therapy. She also participated in the DAAD RISE program in Germany and<br>was named a 2026 Goldwater Scholar. She is particularly interested in developing technologies<br>that improve the delivery of genetic medicines for neurological diseases. Outside the lab, she<br>tutors and mentors engineering students, supporting their academic and professional growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><br><strong>Using CRISPR-Cas9 to Improve Nuclear Localization of Gene-Encoding<br>DNA Origami<br>Ashley Blake1, Grant Knappe2, Anna Romanov2, and Mark Bathe2<\/strong><br>1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Clemson University<br>2Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Gene-encoding DNA origami is an emerging platform for non-viral gene delivery<br>that packages therapeutic genes within programmable DNA nanostructures. However, these<br>nanostructures must reach the nucleus before the encoded genes can be expressed, a process<br>that remains particularly challenging in non-dividing cells. Although nuclear localization<br>represents a major barrier to this technology, strategies to overcome it remain limited. We<br>therefore investigated whether CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoproteins (RNPs), which contain<br>nuclear localization signals, could enhance nuclear localization of gene-encoding DNA<br>origami. To test this hypothesis, we engineered gene-encoding DNA origami functionalized<br>with CRISPR-Cas9 RNPs. The resulting nanostructures were successfully assembled and<br>characterized by gel electrophoresis, dynamic light scattering, fluorescence spectroscopy,<br>and transmission electron microscopy, confirming successful incorporation of CRISPR-Cas9<br>RNPs. RNP-functionalized and unloaded gene-encoding DNA origami were then compared in<br>proliferating and cell cycle-arrested Neuro-2a cells. Nuclear localization and expression of an<br>encoded eGFP reporter are being evaluated by fluorescence microscopy. By addressing a key<br>barrier to nuclear localization, this strategy could broaden the applications of gene-encoding<br>DNA origami for non-viral gene delivery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5576,"template":"","profile_category":[25],"class_list":["post-5263","profiles","type-profiles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","profile_category-2026-interns"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/profiles"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5796,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5263\/revisions\/5796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"profile_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_category?post=5263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}