Title

Karmella Haynes

(she/her)
Headshot Placeholder
Photo of Karmella Haynes
Title/Position
Assistant Professor
Areas of Research

Areas of Research

Cancer Technologies , Synthetic Biology
Contact

Contact

HSRB E154Emory
kahayne@emory.edu
404.727.0531
Haynes Lab
Education

Education

  • Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics, 2006 - Washington University in Saint Louis
  • B.S. in Biology, 1999 - Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
Affiliated Centers & Institutes

Affiliated Centers & Institutes

Research Interests

Research Interests

Professor Haynes' research focuses on synthetic epigenetic engineering to understand and reprogram gene regulation, without altering DNA sequence, in engineered cells and human disease. She develops synthetic reader-actuators, engineered RNA scaffolds, and chromatin enzyme relocalization systems to decode how metabolic and environmental signals establish persistent epigenetic states relevant to cancer, immune dysfunction, and tissue regeneration.

Teaching Interests

Teaching Interests

Professor Haynes’ teaching interests center on synthetic biology, gene regulation, and epigenetic engineering, with emphasis on connecting molecular mechanisms to translational applications. She is particularly interested in training graduate and undergraduate students to think critically about experimental design, quantitative reasoning, and the societal impact of emerging biotechnologies. Her courses integrate active learning, grant-writing preparation, and interdisciplinary collaboration to prepare students for careers in academia, industry, and biotechnology leadership.
Publications

Publications

PubMed
Sharma S, Kim SH, Hong T, Johnson AM, Jones A, Smith KN, Haynes KA. Ectopic expression to synthetic design: Deriving engineering principles of lncRNA-mediated epigenetic regulation. Cell Syst. 2025 Dec 17;16(12):101478.
PubMed
Townsel A, Wu Y, Jaffe M, Shields C, Haynes KA. Tet Transgene Activation is Disrupted in Lipogenic Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells. ACS Synth Biol. 2025 Jul 18;14(7):2455-2464. doi: 10.1021/acssynbio.4c00851. Epub 2025 Jul 8.
PubMed
Kim SH, Haynes KA. Reader-Effectors as Actuators of Epigenome Editing. Methods Mol Biol. 2024;2842:103-127.
PubMed
Townsel A, Jaffe M, Wu Y, Henry CJ, Haynes KA. The Epigenetic Landscape of Breast Cancer, Metabolism, and Obesity. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2024;1465:37-53.
PubMed
Haynes KA, Andrews LB, Beisel CL, Chappell J, Cuba Samaniego CE, Dueber JE, Dunlop MJ, Franco E, Lucks JB, Noireaux V, Savage DF, Silver PA, Smanski M, Young E. Ten Years of the Synthetic Biology Summer Course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. ACS Synth Biol. 2024 Sep 20;13(9):2635-2642.
PubMed
Haynes KA, Priode JH. Rapid Single-Pot Assembly of Modular Chromatin Proteins for Epigenetic Engineering. Methods Mol Biol. 2023;2599:191-214.
PubMed
Hong L, Williams NL, Jaffe M, Shields CE, Haynes KA. Synthetic Reader-Actuators Targeted to Polycomb-Silenced Genes Block Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Proliferation and Invasion. GEN Biotechnol. 2023 Aug 1;2(4):301-316.
PubMed
Geitgey DK, Lee M, Cottrill KA, Jaffe M, Pilcher W, Bhasin S, Randall J, Ross AJ, Salemi M, Castillo-Castrejon M, Kilgore MB, Brown AC, Boss JM, Johnston R, Fitzpatrick AM, Kemp ML, English R, Weaver E, Bagchi P, Walsh R, Scharer CD, Bhasin M, Chandler JD, Haynes KA, Wellberg EA, Henry CJ. The 'omics of obesity in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr. 2023 May 4;2023(61):12-29.
PubMed
Cabrera A, Edelstein HI, Glykofrydis F, Love KS, Palacios S, Tycko J, Zhang M, Lensch S, Shields CE, Livingston M, Weiss R, Zhao H, Haynes KA, Morsut L, Chen YY, Khalil AS, Wong WW, Collins JJ, Rosser SJ, Polizzi K, Elowitz MB, Fussenegger M, Hilton IB, Leonard JN, Bintu L, Galloway KE, Deans TL. The sound of silence: Transgene silencing in mammalian cell engineering. Cell Syst. 2022 Dec 21;13(12):950-973.
PubMed
Lee M, Geitgey DK, Hamilton JAG, Boss JM, Scharer CD, Spangle JM, Haynes KA, Henry CJ. Adipocyte-mediated epigenomic instability in human T-ALL cells is cytotoxic and phenocopied by epigenetic-modifying drugs. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2022 Aug 19;10:909557.
PubMed
Hunter R, Imbach KJ, Zhou C, Dougan J, Hamilton JAG, Chen KZ, Do P, Townsel A, Gibson G, Dreaden EC, Waller EK, Haynes KA, Henry CJ, Porter CC. B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia promotes an immune suppressive microenvironment that can be overcome by IL-12. Sci Rep. 2022 Jul 13;12(1):11870.
PubMed
Franklin KA, Shields CE, Haynes KA. Beyond the marks: reader-effectors as drivers of epigenetics and chromatin engineering. Trends Biochem Sci. 2022 May;47(5):417-432.
PubMed
Liu AP, Appel EA, Ashby PD, Baker BM, Franco E, Gu L, Haynes K, Joshi NS, Kloxin AM, Kouwer PHJ, Mittal J, Morsut L, Noireaux V, Parekh S, Schulman R, Tang SKY, Valentine MT, Vega SL, Weber W, Stephanopoulos N, Chaudhuri O. The living interface between synthetic biology and biomaterial design. Nat Mater. 2022 Apr;21(4):390-397.