PhD Thesis Defense
Abstract: The ability to remotely control cellular activity in deep tissue would enable the study of cellular functions in their native contexts and novel spatially activated therapeutic modalities. Sonogenetics, the use of ultrasound to control the activity of genetically defined cells, has emerged as a promising approach to address this need, but has typically suffered from limited robustness. In my thesis defense, I will show that genetically encoded gas vesicles can transduce biologically inert acoustic inputs into robust cellular responses. I will further demonstrate how such responses can be modularly coupled to synthetic outputs and showcase point-and-click modulation of cellular functions in cultured cells, tumors, and brain structures in adult mice. Together, these results establish a robust, accessible, and spatially precise platform for controlling cellular functions in deep tissue.