...experts that complement your (scientific) skill set and is therefore very useful for complex projects. It...collaborations are becoming increasingly important as more complex approaches to scientific questions become popular...especially when considering small to mid-sized companies and organizations. Addgene as a nonprofit organization... worked with people outside the department to accomplish a variety of goals. For example, I worked with...provided a crash course in this discipline. Getting companies to come to these types of events can be very tough...First I needed to find the right contacts at the companies and then convince the contacts to give me some...repetition. I learned to look at the event from the company’s perspective, focus on the message and to keep ...

...function in unrelated host species, even from completely different kingdoms of life. That’s convenient... for researchers who want to do experiments in complex eukaryotic cells, but would prefer to grow, clone...replication begins, so a bacterial plasmid needs a compatible ori that will be recognized by its host’s replication...into plant genomes. Eukaryotes are a bit more complicated. Yeast vectors may contain an autonomously replicating...increase cellular uptake, but this approach requires compatible cell lines that express viral machinery. Alternatively...may be sufficient for your needs even without a compatible replication site. Regardless of the species you...vector to persist in... You need... Bacteria a compatible ori Yeast an autonomously replicating sequence...

...with fluorescent proteins (FPs) localized to compartments other than the cytoplasm. That is, unfortunately...positioning of the FP sequence relative to cell compartment targeting sequences, which often have absolute...that FPs are often poorly suited for cellular compartments other than the cytoplasm. Generally, FPs evolved...subcellular environments, including the organelles that compose the secretory pathway, endocytic vesicles, mitochondria.... Many of the resident proteins within these compartments undergo significant post-translational modifications...inter-chain disulfide bonds between FPs blocks Golgi complex-localized fusions from properly exiting the ER ...and spectral characteristics of the moxFPs are comparable to the non-optimized parental proteins. Our recent...

...GPCRs (Takeda S et al., 2002) and many downstream complexes involved, it can be difficult for scientists to...in sight (Olsen RHJ et al., 2020). A transducer complex consists of a trimer of three subunits: alpha, ...collectively known as a heterotrimeric G protein. This complex converts a signal received by a GPCR on the cell...is being able to identify specific transducer complexes that are activated in response to a ligand binding...inactive, these subunits are found in a trimeric complex bound to the intracellular surface of the GPCR....Following activation in response to the ligand, the complex will disassociate, resulting in a decreased GFP2...They further used TRUPATH to analyze a panel of compounds across the transducerome on a single GPCR, showing...

...conformational complexity There are 24 known mammalian integrins, all heterodimers composed of one of 18...are essential cell surface receptors involved in complex signaling pathways and the linkage of intra- and...-integrin toolset IPI’s anti-integrin toolset comprises 26 recombinant antibodies (rAbs) either produced...-mimetic sequences that imitate this motif and compete with both small molecule integrin inhibitors and...their targeted integrin subtype, even when in competition with other similar integrins, as reported by ...demonstrated that anti-integrin αVβ5.9 “essentially completely blocks all adhesion,” inhibiting the function... rAbs. The other eight are chimeric antibodies composed of rat or mouse variable regions fused with rabbit...

...locations using Cas9 and track the localization of the complex. Broccoli, the other green fluorescent aptamer,...investigate RNA assembly. The split aptamer is composed of a “Top” and “Bottom” portion, each fused to... RNA. Fluorescence is observed when these RNAs complex and the entire aptamer can hybridize and fold. ...uniqueness of the photostability of the Corn-DFHO complex. For dessert (last but not least), the only fruit-named...Other groups have used Mango to study RNA-protein complexes (Panchapakesan et al., 2017) and short non-coding...identified through microfluidic-assisted in vitro compartmentalisation for their high binding affinity to TO1-biotin...of these variants exhibit increased brightness compared to Mango, and all are photostable and useful for...

...when. Compiling the identity and location of a given nucleotide, a researcher (or a simple computer program...in Neuroscience at Harvard University. Just as computers, cell phones, and cars become more technologically... fluorescently labeled probe. If the DNA is complementary to the probe (for example, has the sequence ...be quantified by the strength of the signal in comparison to a control sample. Southern blotting applications...in standard PCR. This allows the researcher to compare different DNA sequences to see which is more abundant...mapping to investigate DNA sequence content by comparing the fragments created by different restriction... sequencing of many samples at once for later comparison. These next-generation sequencing techniques ...

...non-trivial, however, as FPs are tremendously complicated entities with a large range of characteristics...about FPs than is currently represented at fpvis (complete spectral information, accession numbers, sequences... (PostgreSQL), that aims to eventually be a comprehensive community resource for information about fluorescent...Protein Property Visualization allows for visual comparison of FPs and how they relate to one another. .  ...FPbase Fluorescence Spectra Viewer can be used to compare excitation and emission spectra when available,...you or your lab use frequently) for the sake of comparison or ease of retrieval.  These collection pages...database relating to that set of proteins.  For computer-savvy users looking to incorporate FPbase data...

...transformation First, use enough DNA and competent bacteria to ensure all components of the library are represented...represented. Typically, Addgene uses electrocompetent Stbl4 cells when performing amplifications, and we use electroporation...may be amplified preferentially, skewing the composition of the final recovered DNA. This bias can be ...need to count how many times each of the library components is found in the read list. If you also sequenced...sequenced the pre-amplification DNA, you’ll compare the numbers before and after. However, because there are...give you a bell curve of the abundance of each component of your library. You should look for two things...making sure few/no plasmids have dropped out, and comparing pre- and post-amplification sequencing results...

...consistent, and controllable pulses of light. Complicated patterns of light intensity and wavelength can...not E. coli. They fall under the heading of two-component systems (TCSs). TCSs consist of a histidine kinase...created the first E. coli light-sensitive two-component system (TCS). Levskaya et al. fused a photosensory... image, as well as a genetic method for the computational problem of edge detection. Tabor et al. subsequently...gene expression. An E. coli light-sensitive two-component system (TCS). A hybrid histidine kinase/photosensor...experimented with the promoter strength of various components, removing inducible promoters that could crosstalk...expression levels are optimal. These tools are compatible with many strains of E. coli, as well as with...

...larger datasets and use computer based analysis techniques, an important component of reproducibility is... for preclinical studies, as reported by drug companies attempting to apply the findings from these studies...research. I’ve talked to many researchers who have complaints about the unreliability of antibodies. IPI is...technologies to your own research needs. Other companies like NEB and ATCC can provide you with additional...sifting through paper lab notebooks). Once you’ve completed your experiment, you’ll need to analyze your results...can understand your analyses and repeat them. Companies like Code Ocean allow researchers to share code...submit designs and transparently reveal them upon completing an experiment. There’s not necessarily in-principle...

...achievement, the complexity of the device increases, as does the price. With this increased complexity comes the...consumer-grade components. In this field, often referred to as 'frugal science', existing components are adapted...are constantly being developed which combine computational processing with biological protocols and revolutionary... rarely provide the construction plans or CAD (computer aided design) drawings of their devices, which...around the use of commercially available tools and components. Rapid prototyping techniques such as 3D printing...and can allow for innovative organizations and companies to provide problem-solving platforms.     ...

...previous blog post about how they started their company here. The first transgenic plant was engineered...cannot build what we do not understand, and the complicated and unique metabolic processes of plants are ... Our color changing flower involves two basic components: the pigments (anthocyanins), and the plant circadian...also identified and characterized mechanisms and components of the circadian rhythm in petunias. Because ...before us, it’s possible for us to combine these components to develop flowers that change color. Without...Without this basic research – this comprehensive understanding of the genetic pieces underpinning these mechanisms...plant synthetic biology. There are already two comprehensive plant cloning kits available in the repository...

... as these immune complexes are smaller than a primary:secondaries:conjugates complex. If you are trying...and therefore each target protein. This can be accomplished by using a panel of primary antibodies conjugated...tissues and cell lines; orthogonal strategies that compare antibody assay results with those of antibody-independent...transcriptomics; independent antibody strategies that compare the staining patterns of multiple antibodies against...that express a tagged version of the antigen and compare staining of the antibody to that of the anti-tag... strategies that isolate an antibody’s immune complexes and confirm interacting partners by mass spectrometry... guaranteed to work. Antibody-based assays are complex and antibodies may perform differently in different...

... chemistry. Although these multi-component systems can be complicated to implement, they can be highly...Various Few Complicated Non-natural amino acids 1 Various Many Complicated   Applications...STED) nanoscopy. Scale bar, 2 μm. Inset shows comparison with standard confocal microscopy. Image adapted... assembly-regulating proteins in vitro reveals complex events. a) Micrographs of a fluorescently-labeled...159 aa) are smaller than HaloTag (295 aa) – for comparison, common fluorescent proteins are typically 230...Strategies Matter for Super-Resolution Microscopy: A Comparison between HaloTags and SNAP-tags. Cell Chemical...Ulrichs, H., Gaska, I., & Shekhar, S. (2023). Multicomponent regulation of actin barbed end assembly by ...

...worm amputations. They also created an online companion resource called “cutting class” which provides...Digoxigenin-labelled Uracil) that will bind to complementary mRNA within an embryo or tissue. Once the riboprobes...specific antibodies that detect the mRNA-riboprobe complex are added to the tissue. The last step involves...cells that contain this mRNA-riboprobe-antibody complex and, as a result, these cells turn blue. Students...organism of interest, use the RNA to create a complementary DNA (cDNA), and then use PCR and molecular cloning...performing these experiments have a good baseline for comparison. Performing WISH using these plasmids can result...one strand of the siRNA and are directed by complementarity to the remaining single stranded siRNA to bind...

...RNA is a structural and functional component of the ribosome complex and Dr. Steitz quipped that RNA in...development zone so many science and technology companies and start-ups choose to locate there. I made time...was the outdoor market where one can shop for components of traditional Chinese medicine. There were hundreds...Lowe lab have allowed them to begin understanding complex regulation of and by tRNAs and tRNA-derived RNAs...replication with no proteins). The chemistry is complex and this work requires an interdisciplinary team... they do it. Of course, No conference would be complete without CRISPR Michael Terns from of the University...in the ribosome is in a complicated conformation “not like DNA which has a boring structure.” That certainly...

...relatively easily synthesized, must be produced using complex mixtures derived from cells or using live cells...systems do require demanding cell culture conditions compared to other systems. Insect expression systems Insect...Insect cells can also be used to produce complex eukaryotic proteins with the correct post-translational.... These systems enable high expression of very complex, glycosylated proteins that cannot be produced ... expression systems, including the majority of complex post-translational modifications. Extraction and... as plant tissues themselves are biochemically complex. To circumvent these issues, scientists have taken...mammalian cells, and are often capable of modifying complex proteins unlike bacterial systems. Yeast cells,...

...targeting anywhere in an exon. But things get more complicated if you’d like to use homology directed repair...alternative PAM sequences are longer and often more complex than NGG, resulting in lower overall genome frequency...Characterizing xCas9 in mammalian cells Hu et al. compared xCas9 activity with wt SpCas9 in mammalian cells...PAMs averaged 56-91% transcriptional activation compared to the NGG PAM, confirming the flexibility of ...with improved editing at an NGG PAM (69 vs 48%) compared to SpCas9-containing ABE7.10, as well as improvements...NGS) are shown as percentages, with fold changes compared to SpCas9 in parentheses. The development of ...that selecting for one beneficial trait, PAM compatibility, also produced an enzyme with improved on-target...

...realized how perfectly flat the complex is on this surface”….where the complex is docked on the membrane of...using 3D printing technology. The tagline for our company is “…where molecules become real”.  We sometimes... the real thing. Nevertheless, the models are compelling, and I encourage you to hold one. Why do we ... They then start talking to themselves as they compare the features displayed on the model with their ... close to its reported cleavage site on the complementary DNA strand. And this is why we love working ... that was not “poised for cleavage”. Jacob computationally added the non-template strand to the Jinek ...double-stranded DNA, recognize a PAM sequence, allow the complementary base pairing between the guide RNA and the target...

...when studying them since their complete knockdown is lethal. Incomplete or titratable knockdown, however...generations. Figure 1: Mobile-CRISPRi's modular components. Image from Peters et al., 2019 with permission... Top: A Tn7 transposon containing the CRISPRi components and a plasmid with the Tn7 transposition genes...ability to synthesize diaminopimelic acid (DAP), a component of the cell wall. Once in the recipient cell, ...Bottom: An ICE element containing the CRISPRi components is transferred to recipient bacteria by bi-parental...was variable. They measured transfer rates by comparing the number of colonies that grew on a selective... gRNA were more sensitive to trimethoprim when compared to control gRNA treated or untreated bacteria....

... experiments are also generally comparable so the best way to compare costs is to look at the prices of...In today’s post, we will focus on a high-level comparison of popular cloning methodologies, with a special...least 50 cloning reactions. The ligase cost is comparable to that of the restriction enzymes and overall... in a price of a few dollars per reaction. By comparison, Gibson assembly can cost over $15.00 per reaction...more streamlined, because they will come with comprehensive and tested protocols, as well as premixed and..., like Gibson or SLIC, since one can pool the components and define their final order through sequence...Golden Gate assembly allows one to simultaneously complete an ordered set of scarless ligations following...

... millions of people die from cancer-related complications each year. Despite these grim statistics, new...cancer, really? While cancer is extraordinarily complex at the molecular level, at the cellular level there...keeping cells from dividing out of control. One may compare the roles of proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressors...cancer research has focused on picking apart the complex cellular pathways involved in the development of...for this elusive target. Recent improvements in computer modeling have enabled researchers to begin discovering... prevalent in human cancers, and synthesizing compounds to bind specifically to their mutated residues...biggest challenges facing researchers today is the complexity of the pathways involved in the development of...

...antibody-conjugated labeling. Even though the two compounds are completely different in nature (eGFP being a protein...results in a higher-wavelength emission spectrum compared to APC. This happens due to a process called Fluorescence... red laser excites at 640 nm (Table 1), while comparing the two fluorophore's excitation spectra around...think of brightness levels on your smartphone or computer screen), and you should be able to properly label...the same color panel. In this case, make sure to compare the excitation/emission spectra of your reporter...whether and to what extent they overlap. Figure 4 compares the spectra of enhanced GFP (eGFP) and FITC, the...Make sure to check out our blog post on color compensation to learn more about them. Alright, let's build...

...referred to as “complex retroviruses ” (Cullen, 1992) because of their more complicated genomes. Here, ...biology. “Retroviruses” is an umbrella term which encompasses 1.) the gamma-retroviruses — that have been developed...whole family; however, you can use Figure 1 to compare the genomes of these two family members.   ...beginning to realize that the situation is already complex enough that a deep understanding of retroviral ...Because it is made at the same time as the other components of the vector particle, some of the RT protein...In both cases, the lipid membrane is the only component that is not dependent on viral genes. It is derived...Mechanism of action of regulatory proteins encoded by complex retroviruses. Microbiological Reviews, 56(3), 375...

... if you can begin simply and build up to more complexity if needed. And since we live in the digital age... biology and ecology can make for beautifully compelling photos and videos, while molecular, micro, and.... Can you convey enough information to tell a compelling story in an image or do you need a full exhibit...fair, or a semester-long after school program? Comparing your desired outcome to the limitations and potential...expertise needed can increase exponentially with complexity. Podcasts Medium Easy for audience to engage... needed. Traditional media formats are quite competitive while digital can be oversaturated. Transition...Photography Medium (high for microscopy) Visually compelling. Easy to convey a large number of details without...

...of the vector components are HIV-based? A7: No single plasmid contains all the components necessary to ...The components are divided as follows: Transfer vectors contain minimal cis-acting HIV components: LTRs...decreasing the probability of creating replication-competent lentivirus (RCL) in your target cells.  Q4: How...targeted. Q6: Are transfer plasmids replication competent? What is SIN? A6: Most (if not all) Addgene transfer...LTRs, PPT, RRE, and psi packaging signal. Viral components typically total <1.5kb, which is rarely more ...are: 1) the potential generation of replication competent virus [usually HIV-1]; and 2) the potential for...

...the cell must have enough nutrients available to complete the entire round of replication. Initiation is...initiate replication. But pSC101 requires a third component: RepA, a protein encoded by pSC101 itself. RepA... are efficient for the host, as no additional components are necessary. Iterons are not the only tool ...Inc, also encoded by the ColIb-P9 plasmid, is complementary to part of the sequence forming this pseudoknot...restraining further replication.   Figure 3: Comparison of replication regulation mechanisms of stringently...replication. At high copy numbers, RepA proteins form complexes between iterons on different plasmids in a process...propagation by limiting their copy number and compensating for the additional metabolic cost imposed on...

...intense amount of competition between microorganisms for available resources. This competition drives microbes...antibiotic compounds. In such a case, the microbe itself would be unharmed by the compound it produces...treat infections, we are treating microbes with compounds similar to those they have been battling for centuries...treatment regiment might wipe out bacteria that are completely susceptible to a drug while a full course of ...likely to develop over time. It isn’t feasible to completely eliminate the development of resistance; it’s...hygiene standards. Handwashing is an essential component of preventing infection, as is cleaning and disinfecting...

...  Here's what you'll find in this post:  New compact, efficient prime editors A versatile and precise...tape Teaching an old antibody new tricks   New compact, efficient prime editors By Susanna Stroik The ....), while PE6c and PE6d were most efficient at complex edits, such as long or highly structured templates...Phage-assisted evolution and protein engineering yield compact, efficient prime editors. Cell, 186(18), 3983–4002...interchangeable set of fusogenic and targeting components to reprogram delivery vehicles like lentiviral...DIRECTED particles where the fusion and targeting components are interchangeable. Image from Strebinger et...the range of targetable cell types. DIRECTED is compatible with fusogens from different viral families and...

...lab. Iron Chef-style competitions Every few months, we’ll have a cooking competition featuring a selected... eat together every day, sharing ideas for the company, but also talking about sports, movies, and just..., which is either an indication of the stiff competition or says something about my cooking.   This is... to organize. We’ll dedicate a post to these competitions in the future, and hopefully include some of...To-Do list long enough that there is no hope of accomplishing it all. How do we encourage people to take a... Hack Days, and we’ve seen great success at accomplishing “we-should-really-make-time-for-that” type projects...

...based on its library frequency before selection compared to its library frequency after selection. Key ...and easy technique that can be used to generate complex libraries of mutant plasmids ready for deep mutational...libraries, they all have inherent shortcomings compared to one pot saturation mutagenesis. Error-prone...vector with Gibson assembly. While this is a comprehensive mutagenesis method, a drawback to using Gibson...scanning libraries. PFunkel: Of prior existing comprehensive mutagenesis methods, PFunkel offers the best...second universal primer is used to synthesize a complementary mutant strand (step 2 and 3). Then the uracil-labeled...PCR-based approach for generating a customizable comprehensive mutagenesis library that’s ready to be tested...

...likely not a coincidence that the AAV genome is composed of single stranded DNA, which is particularly ... interest, ordering them from a gene synthesis company such as IDT or Genscript, and cloning them sequentially...infection with adeno-cre. AAV-based gene editing compared to CRISPR editing CRISPR, of course, has started...and virtually never exceeds 40%. While this is comparable or better than the efficiency of most current...systems. Ohmori et al 2017 use a dual vector system composed of SaCas9 and a gRNA in one AAV and a repair template...researchers have devised methods to deliver CRISPR components as ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) that can be supplied...2017 recently showed that by delivering CRISPR components as RNPs and delivering two halves of a repair...

...now available. However, it can be difficult to compare their performance, as most translation initiation...directly engages the ribosome for translational complex assembly. PhD student Dejan Gagoski used SITS ...SITS to create the pCell-Free vectors, Gateway-compatible backbones that enable cell-free expression of proteins...-tagged human ORF clones to allow testing and comparison of different cell-free expression systems; the... construct barcoded, locus-specific libraries compatible with Illumina next generation sequencing in order...libraries using a 2-step PCR-based protocol and are compatible with single-end or paired-end read flow cells...21408-21413. PUF Assembly Kit PUF proteins are composed of repeat segments that can be engineered to bind...

... Now that you’ve completed a resource budget, and know how to decide which components are the most critical...an account of the material resources needed to accomplish your science, and can include: equipment, reagents...then start identifying the resources needed to accomplish that goal. 2. Identify the tools in that timeline...research success. If you can get away with using computer modeling and collaborations rather than using ... most start-up P.I.’s. It doesn’t have to be complicated, or difficult to create this list. Start BEFORE...equipment. That’s why a resource budget can help you compare the monetary and empirical value that helps you...from academia altogether and instead started a company around his own research. He was clear on his science...

...Burry 2011). Complex experiments Finally, additional controls may be required for more complex experiments...expected response and have a baseline with which to compare the experimental group.     Figure 1: A...western blot several times with the same samples and compare the results across runs. If the results vary considerably...will briefly touch on.  Western blotting When comparing samples in different lanes in a western blot, ... to the controls listed above, viability and compensation controls are recommended for flow cytometry....example, propidium iodide only stains dead cells). Compensation controls address the spectral overlap that occurs... occurs during multiplexing. Compensation controls are single stained samples for each fluorophore and...

...Using AAV vectors in complex biological systems can be tricky at best, and downright infuriating at worst...Serotypes Serotype refers to the different protein compositions of AAV capsids, which determine how a virus ...what works great in one system or cell type can completely fail in a different system (Issa et al., 2023...designing and testing your AAV.  Figure 2: Comparison of AAV serotypes 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, and 9 in two ...Taschenberger et al., 2017).     Figure 3: Comparison of two astrocyte selective promoters demonstrating...Konishi, Y., Hosokawa, Y., & Konishi, H. (2014). A comparative analysis of constitutive promoters located in...vector-mediated transduction of the corticospinal tract: Comparison of four promoters. Gene Therapy, 28(1–2), 56–...

...reduced transformation and transfection efficiency compared to the monomeric version of the plasmid (Maucksch...multimers have additional origins of replication compared to monomers, they are also able to replicate at...bacterial cells with multimers grow more slowly compared to those containing the monomeric version of the...and more prone to being lost in bacterial cells compared to monomers, although this can be prevented via...cannot be used to detect plasmid multimers. Some companies provide NGS whole plasmid sequencing services ...frequency of multimerization, and in some cases completely prevent the formation of plasmid multimers (Bedbrook...produced the highest yield of monomeric plasmid compared to DH5α. However, more research is needed to determine...

...binary systems. In recent years, a number of more complex systems have also been developed which don’t fit... Bujard, both the promoter and transactivator components of the system have been engineered and improved...revolutionized genetic studies in flies. An additional component, the GAL80 repressor, adds a repressible element...UAS-driven gene expression. To further increase the complexity of the system, researchers have used split GAL4... developed by Lai and Lee. LexA/lexAop is a complementary system to GAL4/UAS that functions in essentially... cells and ~24,000-fold in human HeLa cells as compared to basal expression. Co-expression of repressor...because it allows them to be used together for complex genetic analysis in Drosophila or for precise control...

...some clones being outcompeted by others in liquid culture, dilute and plate the complete library of transformants...faces as it approaches a host cell surface are complex polysaccharide structures, many of which are easily... DNA from host cell nucleases (4). To further complicate matters, even when sequenced, phage genomes tend... for cell-binding abilities (6). This can be accomplished using a restriction enzyme with a short recognition...involves forcing DNA through a small opening using compressed nitrogen gas; this shears DNA at random locations...your resultant plasmid libraries into chemically competent E. coli and analyze transformants for appropriately...transformation should be performed using a highly competent strain that you can use for long-term library ...