Staff Research Associate 3

Staff Research Associate 3

Full-time position in the laboratory of Associate Professor Maxwell Wilson in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. The Staff Research Associate 3 will design and build genome-editing libraries in budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) using the MAGESTIC platform and will carry out the computational analysis that supports this work, in support of a Darpa-funded synthetic biology project (Darpa Go) that engineers light-controlled genetic systems in yeast. Primary duties include designing guide RNA and donor / repair libraries and their associated barcodes, processing synthetic oligonucleotide pools, performing high-throughput molecular cloning, transforming and constructing yeast strains, running pooled growth and selection experiments, and preparing samples for next-generation sequencing. The position also develops and runs computational pipelines for library design, barcode and variant counting, and screen analysis, and manages the resulting datasets. Additional responsibilities include maintaining shared instruments and the laboratory's automation and liquid-handling systems, managing strain and plasmid collections, training students and researchers in yeast genome-engineering and MAGESTIC workflows, and coordinating with project collaborators. Other duties include general laboratory upkeep, preparation of stock solutions and reagents, and regulatory and biosafety compliance.

Required qualifications: Bachelor's degree in molecular or cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, or a related field; equivalent experience and / or training may substitute 1-3 years hands-on molecular biology and genetics in budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), including transformation, strain construction, and use of selection markers 1-3 years high-throughput or library-scale molecular cloning, such as pooled oligonucleotide libraries, golden gate, or gibson assembly 1-3 years crispr / cas genome editing in microbial or eukaryotic systems 1-3 years programming and scripting for biological data analysis in python and / or r, including processing of next-generation sequencing data 1-3 years reliable, organized, and detail-oriented, with the ability to track and manage large numbers of parallel samples and experiments 1-3 years construction of magestic or comparable pooled, barcoded crispr editing libraries

Preferred qualifications: master's degree in molecular or cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, or a related field phd in molecular or cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, or a related field less than 1 year laboratory automation and liquid-handling robotics, unix / command-line environments, and version control such as git strong foundation in molecular biology, genetics, and synthetic biology, with specific expertise in yeast genome engineering designing and constructing pooled crispr editing libraries, including guide rna and donor / repair design and barcoding schemes programming proficiency in python and / or r for analysis of high-throughput sequencing and screen data comfortable working in a biosafety-compliant molecular biology laboratory, including aseptic technique and recombinant dna handling highly organized, reliable, and detail-oriented, with strong written and oral communication and the ability to work both independently and within a milestone-driven, multi-investigator project