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Contact Information for the Diercks Lab in the Department of Chemistry at Scripps Research Address The Scripps Research Institute Department of Chemistry Chi-Huey Wong Laboratories for Biomedical Research San Diego, CA 92037 Contact cdiercks@scripps.edu

Job opportunities for Graduate Students, Postdoctoral Researchers, and Undergraduate Researchers. Opportunities Graduate Students We are always recruiting thoughtful, dedicated, and creative graduate students to join our growing team. For interested candidates potential research projects include any of the ongoing research directions of our lab. Interested candidates need to apply to the graduate program at Scripps Research. For additional information, please email Christian Diercks with your CV and a brief description of your interest. Read More Postdoctoral Researchers We are hiring postdocs in for these general areas: (i) continuous protease evolution for targeted protein degradation of the "undruggable" proteome, (ii) continuous enzyme evolution for target selective biocatalysts, and (iii) development of high-throughput screens for delivery of synthetic nanoparticles. If you are interested in these or related topics, please email Christian Diercks with a CV and a one page research summary. Read More Research Experiences for Undergraduate and Highschool Students Our undergraduate researcher mentoring capacity is currently full. However, if there is a specific research idea you are passionate about that is best explored in our group, please email Christian Diercks with your CV and a brief description of your interest. Read More Infrastructure at Scripps Research Diercks Lab Space Scripps Research Graduate Program

Team members of the Diercks Lab at Scripps Research Christian S. Diercks Assistant Professor of Chemistry Scripps Research Christian S. Diercks is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Scripps Research. He earned his B.Sc. in Chemistry from the Ruprecht-Karls University Heidelberg and did undergraduate in supramolecular chemistry with Nobel laureates Jean-Pierre Sauvage and Sir J. Fraser Stoddart at the CNRS in Strasbourg, and Northwestern University, respectively. He went on to pursue graduate school at UC Berkeley, where he received his PhD in chemistry working with Nobel laureate Omar M. Yaghi on porous organic materials for electrocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide. For his dissertation work he was awarded the KAVLI Philomathia graduate student fellowship and the KAVLI ENSI thesis prize at UC Berkeley. After his PhD, Christian went on to do postdoctoral research in chemical and synthetic biology at Scripps Research working with Prof. Peter G. Schultz, where he developed a powerful system for continuous hypermutation and accelerated evolution in E. coli. In his independent career, Christian aims to apply this platform for the directed evolution of enzyme and protein therapeutics, and to extend the concepts for the Darwinian evolution of synthetic gene delivery vehicles. Meet the Diercks Lab Team Anyang Chen Graduate Student B.Sc. in Biotechnology South China University of Technology anyangc@scripps.edu Arjun Pamidi Graduate Student B.Sc. in Biology University of California, Irvine parjun@scripps.edu Delaney Carlin Graduate Student B.Sc. in Biochemistry Scripps College dcarlin@scripps.edu Lauren Hoffner Graduate Student B.Sc. in Chemistry University of California, Irvine lahoffner@scripps.edu Thomas Gillis Graduate Student B.Sc. in Biochemistry University of Wisconsin, Madison tgillis@scripps.edu Menghan Pan Research Assistant M.Sc. in Bioengineering University of Pennsylvania B.Sc. in Biological System Engineering UC Davis mpan@scripps.edu Celine Wang Lab Manager, Research Assistant B.A. in Biology Whittier College cewang@scripps.edu Yahui Ban Graduate Student (Schultz Lab) B.Sc. in Chemical Biology Nankai University yban@scripps.edu Indranil Samanta Postdoctoral Researcher (Schultz Lab) PhD in Chemistry Texas A&M MS in Chemistry IIT Kanpur isamanta@scripps.edu Tongliang Zhou Postdoctoral Researcher (Schultz Lab) PhD in Organic Chemistry Rutgers University M.S. in Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry Peking University tzhou@scripps.edu Yongheng Gao Graduate Student (Schultz Lab) B.Sc. in Chemical Biology Nankai University yogao@scripps.edu

The Diercks Lab in the Department of Chemistry at Scripps Research leverages an orthogonal replication system in E. coli, termed T7 ORACLE, for the development of protein and enzyme therapeutics and develops Darwinian Nanoparticles, a new technology for the optimization of gene delivery vehicles Synthetic Evolution The Diercks lab applies our T7 ORACLE continuous hypermutation and accelerated evolution technology to challenges in human health and synthetic biology. Key areas of interest are the development of protein therapeutics for targeted protein degradation, the directed evolution of enzyme therapies, as well as new technologies for genetic code expansion. The lab further aims to expand the concept of directed evolution from biomacromolecules to abiological materials and to create Darwinian Nanoparticles with a selectable genotype/phenotype non-viral gene delivery vehicles with improved tissue/cell type tropism, endosomal escape, and intracellular trafficking. An Orthogonal Replication System in E. coli We have developed an orthogonal replication system in E. coli based on the controlled bacterial expression of the replisome of bacteriophage T7. The orthogonality to host replication enables fundamental alteration of the T7 replisome's properties without compromising host fitness. This is exploited by our lab to (i) increase the T7 replisome's mutation rate for for continuous hypermutation and accelerated evolution of genes of interest (T7 Orthogonal Replisome Assisted Continuous Laboratory Evolution, T7 ORACLE), as well as (ii) to expand the genetic alphabet and replicate new-to nature genetic polymers in vivo . Read More Continuous Evolution of Enzyme Therapeutics We have engineered T7 ORACLE for continuous hypermutation of genes of interest in E. coli at rates 100,000-fold faster than genomic replication We leverage this system for the continuous evolution of protein and enzyme therapeutics, high-affinity binders (e.g., monobodies, scFvs, FABs), as well as for repurposing the cell's macromolecular machinery for genetic code expansion. These areas remain underexplored in the context of directed evolution because conventional technologies render high-throughput evolution too laborious and time consuming for an academic setting. T7 ORACLE addresses this limitation and reduces directed evolution campaigns to mere passaging of cells. Read More Directed Evolution of Botox Protease for Targeted Protein Degradation Developing generalizable strategies to degrade "undruggable proteins" represents a path towards cures for currently untreatable diseases. We aim to evolve botulinum neurotoxin type A (BonT/A)—a bacterial protease used by millions for cosmetic and therapeutic applications—to change its substrate specificity and selectively cleave proteins that cannot be targeted by small molecules. The extended binding site and concomitant high sequence specificity of Botox for its intrinsically disordered target protein SNAP25 supports the great promise of this approach. Efforts in our lab focus on applying this strategy to targets in oncology and in pain. Read More Darwinian Nanoparticles for Gene Delivery We are developing a system for the directed evolution of “Darwinian Nanoparticles”. By endowing abiotic nanomaterials with a selectable genotype-phenotype link we aim to harness the concept of Darwinian evolution for the optimization of non-viral gene delivery vehicles. This will serve as a general high throughput diversification and screening strategy to supplement existing rational design approaches to optimize synthetic nanoparticles for applications in vivo . Iterative rounds replication, diversification, and selection of libraries of such "Darwinian Nanoparticles" will be used to develop next generation drug- and gene delivery vehicles. Read More

Publications of the Diercks Lab at Scripps Research Publications Google Scholar Citations: 14,871; H-index: 31 # denotes equal contribution * denotes corresponding author Scripps Research An Orthogonal T7 Replisome for Continuous Hypermutation and Accelerated Evolution in E. coli C. S. Diercks* , P. Sondermann, C. Rong, T. G. Gillis, Y. Ban, C. Wang, D. A. Dik, P. G. Schultz*, Science , 2025 , 389 (6760), 618–622. Highlighted in: Popular Mechanics , Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News , Nature Chemical Biology , Bioengineer.org, The Scientist Targeted Degradation of α-Synuclein using an Evolved Botulinum Toxin Protease P. Sondermann, C. S. Diercks, C. Rong, P. G. Schultz* Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2025 , 122 (13), e2426745122. An Unnatural Amino Acid Dependent, Conditional Pseudomonas Vaccine Prevents Bacterial Infection M. Pigula, Y.-C. Lai, M. Koh, C. S. Diercks, T. F. Rogers, D. A. Dik*, P. G. Schultz* Nat. Commun. 2024 , 15 (1), 6766. Adding New Chemistries to the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology C. S. Diercks, D. A. Dik, P. G. Schultz* Chem , 2021 , 7 , 2883–2895. University of California, Berkeley Crystalline Frameworks Constructed from Catenated Organic Polyhedra. Catenated Covalent Organic Frameworks Constructed from Polyhedra T. Ma, Y. Zhou, C. S. Diercks, J. Kwon, F. Gándara, H. Lyu, N. Hanikel, Y. Liu, N. J. Diercks, R. O. Ritchie, D. M. Proserpio, O. Terasaki, O. M. Yaghi* Nat. Synth. 2023 , 2 , 286–295. Postsynthetic Metalation of a New Metal–Organic Framework To Improve Methane Working Storage Capacity H. L. Nguyen, R. Matheu, C. S. Diercks, T . L. Doan, B. T. Nguyen, K.E. Cordova* ACS Mater. Lett. , 2022 , 4 , 2375–2380. Protein Electric Fields Enable Faster and Longer-lasting Covalent Inhibition of β-Lactamases Z. Ji, J. Kozuch, I. I. Mathews, C. S. Diercks, Y. Shamsudin, M. A. Schulz, S. G. Boxer* J. Am. Chem. Soc. , 2022 , 144 , 20947–20954. Reticular Nanoscience: Bottom-Up Assembly Nanotechnology J. Andreo, R. Ettlinger, O. Zaremba, Q. Peña, U. Lächelt, R. Fernández de Luis, R. Freund, S. Canossa, E. Ploetz, W. Zhu, C. S. Diercks, H. Gröger, S. Wuttke* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022 , 144 , 7531–7550. 25 Years of Reticular Chemistry R. Freund, S. Canossa, S. M. Cohen, W. Yan, H. Deng, V. Guillerm, M. Eddaoudi, D. G. Madden, D. Fairen–Jimenez, H. Lyu, L. K. Macreadie, Z. Ji, Y. Zhang, B. Wang, F. Haase, C. Wöll, O. Zaremba, J. Andreo, S. Wuttke*, C. S. Diercks* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021 , 60 , 23946–23974. Invited Contribution at the Occasion of 25 years of Reticular Chemistry The Current Status of MOF and COF Applications R. Freund, O. Zaremba, G. Arnauts, R. Ameloot, G. Skorupskii, M. Dincă, A. Bavykina, J. Gascon, A. Ejsmont, J. Goscianska, M. Kalmutzki, U. Lächelt, E. Ploetz, C. S. Diercks* , S. Wuttke* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021 , 60 , 23975–24001. Invited Contribution at the Occasion of 25 years of Reticular Chemistry Anisotropic Reticular Chemistry W. Xu, B. Tu, Q. Liu, Y. Shu, C.-C. Liang, C. S. Diercks , O. M. Yaghi, Y.-B. Zhang, H. Deng, Q. Li* Nat. Rev. Mater. , 2020 , 5 , 764–779. From Molecules to Frameworks to Superframework Crystals Z. Ji, R. Freund, C. S. Diercks, R. Hirschle, O. M. Yaghi, S. Wuttke Adv. Mater . 2021 , 33 , 2103808. Reticular Growth of Graphene Nanoribbon Covalent Organic Frameworks G. Veber, C. S. Diercks, C. Rogers, W. S. Perkins, J. Ciston, C. Zhu, A. Liebman-Pelaez, F. R. Fischer* Chem , 2020 , 6 , 1125–1133. Amidation, Esterification, and Thioesterification of a Carboxyl-Functionalized Covalent Organic Framework L. Guo, J. Shiang, C. S. Diercks, S. A. Alshmimri, O. M. Yaghi* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019 , A Metal-Organic Framework of Organic Vertices and Polyoxometalate Linkers as a Solid-State Electrolyte W. Xu, X. Pei, C. S. Diercks , H. Lyu, Z. Ji, O. M. Yaghi* J. Am. Chem. Soc. , 2019 , 141 , 17522–17526. Semiconductive 3D Phthalocyanine Metal-Catecholates for High Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction, R. Matheu, E. Gutierrez-Puebla, M. Monge, C. S. Diercks, J. Kang; M. Prevot, X. Pei, N. Hanikel, B, Zhang, P. Yang, O. Yaghi* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019 , 141 , 17081–17085. Porous Olefin-Linked Covalent Organic Frameworks H. Lyu, C. S. Diercks, O. M. Yaghi* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019 , 141 , 6848–6852. Casting Nanoporous Platinum in Metal-Organic Frameworks X. Gao, X. Pei, D. W. Gardner, C. S. Diercks , S. Lee, B. Rungtaweevoranit, M. S. Prevot, C. Zhu, S. Fakra, R. Maboudian* Adv. Mater . 2019 , 31 , 1807553. Tuning the Electronic Structure of Two-Dimensional Covalent Organic Frameworks by an Asymmetrical Bonding Scheme T. Joshi,# C. Chen,# H. Li,# C. S. Diercks,# Gaoqiang Wang, Hong Li, Omar Yaghi, Jean-Luc Bredas, Michael Crommie* Adv. Mater. 2018 , 31 , 1805941. 3D Covalent Organic Frameworks of Interlocking 1D Square Ribbons, Y. Liu, C. S. Diercks , Y. Ma, H. Lyu, C. Zhu, S. A. Alshmimri, S. Alshihri, O. M. Yaghi* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018 , 141 , 677–683. Urea-Linked Covalent Organic Frameworks C. Zhao, C. S. Diercks , C. Zhu, N. Hanikel, X. Pei, O. M. Yaghi* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018 , 140 , 16438–16441. A Complex Metal-Organic Framework Catalyst for Microwave-Assisted Radical Polymerization H. L. Nguyen, T. T. Vu, D. K. Nguyen, C. A. Trickett, T. L. H. Doan, C. S. Diercks , V. Q. Nguyen, K. E. Cordova* Commun. Chem ., 2018 , 1 , 70. Conceptual Advances from Werner Complexes to Metal-Organic Frameworks C. S. Diercks, M. J. Kalmutzki, N. J. Diercks, O. M. Yaghi* ACS Cent. Sci. , 2018 , 4 , 1457–1464. Molecular Weaving of Covalent Organic Frameworks for Adaptive Guest Inclusion Y. Liu, Y. Ma, J. Yang, C. S. Diercks, N. Tamura, F. Jin, O. M. Yaghi* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018 , 140 , 16015–16019. Highlighted on the Cover of the Issue Metal-Organic Frameworks for Water Harvesting from Air. M. J. Kalmutzki, C. S. Diercks, O. M. Yaghi* Adv. Mater. 2018 , 30 , 1704304. Invited contribution to the special issue on metal-organic frameworks dedicated to Prof. Susumu Kitagawa. Conversion of imine to oxazole and thiazole linkages in covalent organic frameworks, P. J. Waller, Y. S. Alfaraj, C. S. Diercks , N. N. Jarenwattananon, O. M. Yaghi* J. Am. Chem. Soc ., 2018 , 140 , 9099–9103. The Role of Reticular Chemistry for the Design of CO2 Reduction Catalysts, C. S. Diercks, Y. Liu, K. E. Cordova, O. M. Yaghi* Nat. Mater. , 2018 , 17 , 301. Reticular Electronic Tuning of Porphyrin Active Sites in Covalent Organic Frameworks for Electrocatalytic Carbon Dioxide Reduction C. S. Diercks , S. Lin, N. Kornienko, E. A. Kapustin, E. M. Nichols, C. Zhu, Y. Zhao, C. J. Chang*, O. M. Yaghi* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017 , 140 , 1116–1122. Covalent Organic Frameworks – Covalent Chemistry Beyond the Molecule, C. S. Diercks*, Markus, J. Kalmutzki, O. M. Yaghi* Molecules , 2017 , 1575. Invited contribution to the special issue “Covalent Organic Frameworks and Related Porous Organic Materials”. The atom, the molecule, and the covalent organic framework C. S. Diercks, O. M. Yaghi* Science , 2017 , 355 , 923. Highlighted by: Berkeley, College of Chemistry Progress and Prospects of Reticular Chemistry, B. Rungtaweevoranit, C. S. Diercks, M . J. Kalmutzki, O. M. Yaghi* Faraday Discuss . 2017 , 201 , 9–45. Invited contribution in the context of the Faraday Discussion on Metal-Organic Frameworks. Chemical Conversion of Linkages in Covalent Organic Frameworks P. J. Waller, S. J. Lyle, T. Osborn Popp, C. S. Diercks, O. M. Yaghi* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016 , 138 , 15519–15522. Highlighted in: Science Magazine Contractile and Extensible Molecular Figures‐of‐Eight F. Niess, V. Duplan, C. S. Diercks, J.-P. Sauvage* Chem. Eur. J . 2015 , 21 , 14393–14400. Selected as “Hot Paper”; highlighted in Chem. Asian J. Covalent organic frameworks comprising cobalt porphyrins for the electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide in water. S.Lin,# C. S. Diercks, # Y.-B. Zhang,# N. Kornienko, E. M. Nichols, Y. Zhao, A. R. Paris, D. Kim, P. Yang, O. M. Yaghi*, C. J. Chang* Science , 2015 , 349 , 1208–1213. Highlighted in: MIT Technology Reviews, Smithsonian Magazine, Science Magazine, Nature Materials, Nature Middle East, Berkeley Lab Newscenter, The Daily Californian, Cosmos Magazine. Solid-State Characterization and Photoinduced Intramolecular Electron Transfer in a Nanoconfined Octacationic Homo[2]Catenane J. C. Barnes, M. Frasconi, R. M. Young, N. H. Khdary, W.-G. Liu, S. M. Dyar, P. R. McGonigal, I. C. Gibbs-Hall, C. S. Diercks, A. A. Sarjeant, C. L. Stern, W. A. Goddard, M. R. Wasielewski*, J. F. Stoddart* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014 , 136 , 10569–10572.