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CRISPR Technology Embarks on ‘Fantastic Voyage’: What is Packaging’s Role? Part II

The Broad Institute works with Addgene repository to advance CRISPR research, which involves packaging to accommodate various temperature demands.

Making progress on gene editing tool CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is the Cambridge, MA-based Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, which aims to improve human health in part through genomics. A video on its website demonstrates genome editing with CRISPR-Cas9. Packaging represents an important part of the process.

Broad Institute scientists deposit DNA-based materials called plasmids to Addgene, a global, nonprofit repository that allows scientists from various labs to conduct CRISPR genome editing in their own labs. Addgene describes these gene-laden plasmids as DNA-based research reagents that permit researchers to study isolated genes and their function under controlled conditions. CRISPR systems include the DNA cutting enzyme, often the Cas9 protein.

Addgene distributes more than 65,000 plasmids from 3,800+ labs with an average daily distribution of ~600 plasmids. To keep samples straight, each plasmid sample is given a unique barcode upon entering its facility. Every step of both the intake and the order fulfilment process is tracked with the help of a custom Lab Information Management System (LIMS).

“We store the bacteria, carrying the plasmid frozen in glycerol in 2D barcoded tubes in a -80°C freezer,” explains Kory DelPrete, Laboratory Operations Manager.

“The extreme cold temperature keeps the bacteria dormant long-term, while glycerol allows the bacteria to survive the freezing process. When an order is placed for the plasmid, a member of our lab team will take a little of the frozen bacteria and place it in a 1-dram glass vial containing agar, a growth medium.”

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Break out of the ordinary: see what’s new in life sciences packaging