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Showing posts from January, 2018

Advanced Technologies For Rapid Generation Of Custom-Designed Animal Models

Cyagen Biosciences would like to invite you to our Animal Models and VectorBuilder-Related Seminar at University of Surrey, UK on Feb 14, 2018. Presentation #1: Advanced Technologies For Rapid Generation Of Custom-Designed Animal Models Cyagen is the world’s leading provider of custom-designed transgenic mice and rats offering a one-stop solution to all your animal needs. To date, we have delivered over 16,000 animal models. In this seminar, Dr Matthew Wheeler will provide an overview of the current State-of-the-art as well as draw on my own experience to give an overview of our technologies including: PiggyBac transgenic mice and rats - Single copy transgene integration  TurboKnockout ® - Conditional KO/KI mice in 6-8 months  CRISPR -mediated genome editing – Knockouts/knockins (Up to 8Kb) Presentation #2: VectorBuilder - Revolutionising Vector Design and Custom Cloning VectorBuilder is a revolutionary new online tool that not only allows you to create your custom vector

Treatment and Sex Differences in Autistic Mice

Although humans and mice are separated by 100 million years of evolution, mouse and rat models have continually proven themselves as extremely powerful research tools. Many mouse and rat genetic models can even recapitulate complex and seemingly uniquely human phenotypes. A great example are mouse models of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which display many of the hallmark features of human ASD, including deficits in social communication and recognition, heightened anxiety, repetetive behavior, and hyperactivity. Recent work from several groups has taken advantage of ASD models to study autism and even develop potential treatments. Male-specific autism phenotypes in mice A striking feature of ASD is that more than 75% of diagnosed children are male. Although the reason for this sex-specific disparity is unknown, rodent models are beginningg to shed light on this aspect of the disorder. Using a contactin-associated protein-like 2 (Cntnap2) knockout mouse model for ASD, a group at th

Join Cyagen Vendor Show at MD Anderson Science Park in Smithville, TX on Jan 9, 2018.

Cyagen Biosciences and VectorBuilder would like to invite you to stop by our show at MD Anderson Science Park in Smithville, TX on Jan 9, 2018. Our territory manager Dr. Heather Lundie will be present to answer any questions you might have about our mouse model generation services ,  vector construction services , virus packaging services , BAC modification services , or anything else at all including our free web based vector design platform, VectorBuilder.com. The event details are as follows: Tuesday, Jan 9 MD Anderson Science Park 1808 Park Rd 1C Smithville, TX 78957 As a special thank you to all those researchers who make events like this one possible, please enjoy $50 off your next purchase of vectors, virus packaging, and cloning services at VectorBuilder.com! Promo Code: 50EMAIL

shRNA Screens Lead to Major Discoveries

Loss-of-function screening using shRNA libraries is a powerful way to identify genes involved in almost any biological process. Over the past decade, shRNA screens, both in vivo and in cell culture systems, have generated many important discoveries. Knockdown screening has become a go-to ‘workhorse’ method for lead identification and gene network studies across many fields of biology. Whole-genome knockdown libraries are frequently used, as well as smaller libraries targeting subsets of genes, such as specific pathways or key biological regulators. Here are a few examples of major shRNA screening discoveries from the past few years: Peroxisomes have a role in cholesterol transport It has long been known that cholesterol undergoes intracellular transport, but the mechanism underlying this process remained unknown. Chu et al. developed an amphotericin B-based assay for impaired LDL-transport, and used it in a genome-wide, lentivirus-based shRNA screen (1). They found that knockdown of