caroline.lamanna@addgene.org (Guest Blogger)

The natural CRISPR locus of a bacteria host encodes multiple guide RNAs (gRNAs) on a single array to target the genome of the invading phage pathogen. Over the past decade, CRISPR tools have leveraged such host-defense mechanisms to enable multiplex gene editing in a variety of cells and organisms. However, lengthy genetic payloads and insufficient transcription on the array have limited the scalability and efficiency of multiplex gene editing. Moreover, existing multiplex strategies have been facing difficulties in pairing with base editing and prime editing approaches. Recently, Xue Sherry Gao’s lab at Rice University has developed DAP arrays for efficient multiplex base editing (MBE) and multiplex prime editing (MPE) with only minimal payloads.

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I didn’t truly address the question of what I wanted to do when I grew up until I was all but finished my undergraduate degree (and I hope I’m not alone in this sentiment). Entering the final semester of a neuroscience major, I was struck with the realisation that I didn’t want a career in neuroscience—whatever that entails. Despite being engrossed by the theory and findings of brain science, my curiosity did not ultimately translate to a desire to do the research itself. Several years of exclusively writing lab reports and empirical essays had also stirred some of my more creative faculties into motion, such that a desire to once again write for fun eventually saw an English minor tacked onto my BSc. With this decision I had unwittingly begun my journey towards a career in science communication, an established field of inquiry with which I was not yet familiar. The idea that my piecemeal degree might one day foster a meaningful day job only came into focus when an English tutor noted my eclectic mix of science and arts papers: “There’s a department at the university I think you should check out.”

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In a lab, you may have heard the phrase gram negative or positive being used to describe a species of bacteria, but what does it actually mean? What relevance does it have on the structure of a bacteria species and how it can be used in a lab? Here we’ll be talking about the ins and outs of this classification system, including its history, biology, and usages in the lab.

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Have you ever been stuck googling about an antibody that will be essential to your new research project, but unsure which one will mark your target the best, or even which one will work for your application? Like many scientists, I have spent hours sifting through comments and papers to find the most reliable (and cost-effective) antibody for my experiment – the “goldilocks antibody.”

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I’ve always been fascinated by the human body and how it works. I used to stay up past my bedtime, poring over my grandparents’ medical textbooks by torchlight under the covers. In high school, I went to all the optional sexual health sessions and reported the intel back to my shyer classmates. For my undergraduate degree, I majored in human anatomy, but I also took classes in biochemistry, microbiology, epidemiology, and bioanthropology. Studying human health science made me happy, but it wasn’t long before I started becoming disillusioned with the gulf between what I was doing in the lab and the interactions I was having outside of the “ivory tower.”

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