Designed for Faculty and College Students looking for a thorough hands-on introduction
to Gene Editing with CRISPR.

Ability to manipulate complex genomes with sufficient accuracy and precision opens promising avenues for both basic biology research and clinical opportunities to treat burdensome genetic disorders. Discovered less than two decades ago, CRISPR technology rapidly became a broadly embraced molecular methodology that allows to effectively and reliably introduce desired genomic alterations into variety of experimental systems ranging from bacteria and cultured cells to live tissues and clinical subjects.

This three-day course offers a comprehensive introduction into the basic principles, biochemical, structural, practical, and ethical aspects of CRISPR technology while also emphasizing specific experimental strategies in designing successful CRISPR experiments.

Attendees will learn three principal strategies in CRISPR applications – editing nucleases, base editors, and prime editors – and become familiar with a molecular diversity of Cas editing nuclease family. Specific emphasis will be given to such pivotal molecular aspects of CRISPR technology as mechanisms of double strand DNA break repair, safety of CRISPR reagents, spectrum of CRISPR delivery options, and experimental strategies available to evaluate outcomes of a typical genome editing project. Students will be involved in various exercises that explore in silico resources to design and assemble reagents for a typical CRISPR experiment.

In the hands-on laboratory segment of the class, participants will be involved in several hands-on experimental activities such as conducting a CRISPR genome editing procedure in tissue culture settings, preparation of expression vectors to deliver CRISPR components in cultured cells, in vitro synthesis of single-guide RNA molecules, isolation of genomic DNA from CRISPR-manipulated cells with subsequent evaluation of genome editing events by Surveyor assay, etc.

Upon conclusion of the course, attendees are expected to understand in depth basic molecular mechanisms underlying genome editing technology, be familiar with CRISPR/Cas9 methodologies of genome editing, be able to identify necessary reagents and materials to conduct CRISPR experiment, design experimental strategy and select applicable tool(s) to evaluate the success of CRISPR experiment, as well as troubleshoot and adjust experimental protocol for better outcomes of a genome editing study.

Serguei Kozlov is a Principal Scientist and Preclinical Technology and Optimization Team Leader at the Center for Advanced Preclinical Research, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research.

Dr. Kozlov’s expertise includes analysis of diverse developmental and oncogenic signaling pathways and their implication for the pathogenic state of adult tissues, as well as molecular mechanisms of gene expression and gene functioning in normal vs. diseased tissues. He also designs genetically and biologically engineered murine models for a variety of diseases, including tissue degenerative syndromes, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, aging, and cancer.

As a postdoctoral fellow and subsequently staff scientist at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Dr. Kozlov oversaw a large-scale effort to assess the role of nuclear-envelope-associated proteins in multiple clinical diseases and identified novel imprinted genes and provided the first evidence connecting imprinted gene expression with circadian regulation. In his current appointment, he leads a team of preclinical researchers focused on early-stage evaluation of promising therapeutic and diagnostic formulations in genetically engineered models of pancreatic malignancies towards accelerating the development of better detection and treatment options for patients suffering from pancreatic cancer.

At Bio-Trac (a Biotechnology Training Program at Montgomery College; designed to train scientists in the latest research techniques and methodologies), Dr. Kozlov leads three different CRISPR-related workshops for Bio-Trac (Gene Editing with CRISPR; Advanced Topics in CRISPR; and Gene Editing iPSCs with CRISPR/Cas9). In the past seven years, Dr. Kozlov’s hands-on workshops have trained over 500 research scientists in the field of CRISPR.

Montgomery College, 20200 Observation Drive, Germantown, MD 20876

Mark Nardone, Biotechnology Program Manager

240-567-2159 (Office) • 301-802-7708 (Cell)

Mark.Nardone@montgomerycollege.edu