Gene editing and phenotyping suite

我们正在为基因编辑和表现型套件申请资金，这将使我们能够修改昆虫、两栖动物和鱼类的基因组，并研究这些修改的生物学后果。该设备对于nserc支持的Evans， Wilson， Dworkin实验室的研究项目至关重要，这是Pruitt实验室提出的研究主题，并且将提供给校园内的其他小组和合作机构。该套件包括几个组件（移液器，两个微操作器，两个微喷器，两个显微镜，并升级到现有的显微镜，两个孵育器和一个爪蟾蛙循环系统），这些组件将使我们能够在分子，细胞，器官和整个生物体的分辨率水平上生成和研究工程基因组。该套件将允许我们通过使用最先进的方法去除功能（敲除）和插入功能（敲入）来改变动物基因组，并且相对于其他技术具有无与伦比的效率和特异性。从不同的生物（昆虫、两栖动物、鱼类）中产生和分析突变系的能力将使我们能够以一种目前不可能的方式显著推进我们的研究计划。它将利用我们在无脊椎动物和脊椎动物生物的动物护理设施、基因组学和生物信息学、分子生物学和成像方面的大量投资。在不久的将来（未来3年），该基础设施将用于研究发育途径的结构和保护、对环境应激和毒素的生理反应、性状的可进化性和可塑性以及内分泌干扰。从长远来看，它将用于广泛的生物操作和实验，正如我们未来的研究结果所指示的那样。该设施包括将加强HQP培训的功能（例如，带有相机和监视器的显微镜；配对HQP工作流程）。为了确保我们最大限度地延长这套设备的功能寿命，我们将为所有用户制定财务计划和严格的培训计划，包括与公平、多样性和包容性有关的问题。这个基础设施是迫切需要的，因为我们目前无法在麦克马斯特进行他们的研究项目的基本方面，因为合适的设备要么是不可用的，要么是在一个间歇性访问的非集中地点被充分利用。我们将采用的基因工程方法将使我们能够对基本生物现象的理解做出重要贡献，这些现象是我们各种研究项目的重点。更广泛地说，基因工程为全球范围内的无数问题（疾病、粮食生产、物种生存）带来了巨大的希望。因此，我们的HQP将接受使用该设备的培训，这将打开智力大门和实验方法，并为社会带来广泛和持久的潜在利益。

We are requesting funds for a gene editing and phenotyping suite that will allow us to modify the genomes of insects, amphibians, and fish, and study the biological consequences of these modifications. This equipment is critical to the NSERC-supported research programs in the Evans, Wilson, Dworkin labs, a proposed research theme in the Pruitt lab, and will be available to other groups on campus and collaborating institutions. This suite includes several components (pipette puller, two micromanipulators, two picospritzers, two microscopes, and upgrade to an existing microscope, two incubators, and a recirculating system for Xenopus frogs) that together will enable us to generate and study engineered genomes at molecular, cellular, organ, and whole organism level of resolution. This suite will allow us to alter animal genomes both by removing function (knock-outs) and inserting function (knock-ins) using state-of-the-art methods, and with unparalleled efficiency and specificity relative to other techniques. The ability to generate and analyze mutant lines from diverse organisms (insects, amphibians, fish) will enable us to significantly advance our research programs in a way that is not currently possible. It will leverage the considerable investments we have made in animal care facilities for invertebrate and vertebrate organisms, genomics and bioinformatics, molecular biology, and imaging. In the immediate future (next 3 years), this infrastructure will be used to study the structure and conservation of developmental pathways, the physiological response to environmental stresses and toxins, trait evolvability and plasticity, and endocrine disruption. Over the long term it will be deployed for a broad array of biological manipulations and experimentations, as directed by our future research results. This facility includes features that will enhance HQP training (e.g., a microscope with camera and monitor; paired HQP workflow). To ensure we maximize the functional lifespan of this suite of equipment, we will establish both a financial plan and a rigorous training program for all users, including issues pertaining to equity, diversity, and inclusion. This infrastructure is urgently needed because we are currently unable to perform fundamental aspects of their research program at McMaster because suitable equipment is either not available or being fully utilized in a non-centralized locations with intermittent access. The genetic engineering approaches we will deploy will allow us to make important contributions to understanding of fundamental biological phenomena that are the foci of our diverse research programs. More broadly, genetic engineering holds great promise for a myriad of problems with a global scope (disease, food production, species survival). Our HQP thus will receive training with this equipment that will push open intellectual doors and experimental approaches, and with extensive and long lasting potential benefits to society.