Drug Discovery Seminar: Arrayed CRISPR Screening with Ulrike Künzel (AstraZeneca / FGSL)

On 24 June, we welcomed Ulrike Künzel from AstraZeneca for a seminar on arrayed CRISPR screens in physiologically relevant human in vitro models.

Unlike pooled approaches, arrayed CRISPR screening edits individual genes in a plate-based format, enabling high-content readouts, including spatial imaging and flow cytometry, in complex models such as iPSC-derived cells, primary immune cells, and patient-derived organoids. Ulrike gave an excellent overview of this technology and how it is being applied at the Functional Genomics Screening Laboratory (FGSL), a joint initiative between the Milner Therapeutics Institute (University of Cambridge), AstraZeneca, and the MRC.

Crucially, Ulrike also highlighted how academic labs across the UK can access the FGSL's state-of-the-art automated platform through an open call for proposals, a fantastic opportunity for groups with complex human in vitro models to perform high-throughput phenotypic screens with expert support. Applications are reviewed in May and November each year.

Many thanks to Ulrike and everyone who joined the discussion.

Interested in collaborating with the FGSL? Visit milner.cam.ac.uk/functional-genomics-screening-lab-fgsl for more information.