DRSC Functional Genomics Resources (DRSC-FGR) began as the Drosophila RNAi Screening Center (DRSC), founded by Prof. Norbert Perrimon in 2003, and the Transgenic RNAi Project (TRiP), founded by Prof. Perrimon in 2008.
We have since grown into a functional genomics platform meeting the needs of the Drosophila and broader community by providing:
- high-throughput production platforms
- cell-based RNAi screen reagents
- on-site cell-based and in vivo screening by local or visiting researchers
- reagent and consultation support for cell-based and in vivo screening off-site
- bioinformatics software tools
- data access
Although our roots remain in Drosophila research, our branches spread wide. Many of our online software tools, for example, are useful for those working in other model organisms, and our data sets can be mined for information relevant to human biology.
We have three main areas of effort.
DRSC Drosophila cell-based screening
The goal of the DRSC at DRSC-FGR is to facilitate Drosophila cell-based RNAi screens and related functional genomics projects in the broadest possible research community. To accomplish this goal, we do the following:
- build dsRNA libraries for RNAi screening on-site or off-site at your institution
- host visitors for state-of-the-art cell-based or in vivo screens
- make other libraries and reagents for screening available through our platform
- transfer cutting-edge technologies and make them more broadly available
- provide expert consultation, protocols, and other support
- make data and supporting analysis tools available online
TRiP Drosophila fly stock production
The goal of the TRiP at DRSC-FGR is production of fly stocks for functional genomics. TRiP reagents and fly stocks are made here, injected here or at collaborating centers, then transferred to the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center (BDSC) for distribution to the community. Projects include:
- TRiP RNAi fly stock production (>10,000 TRiP RNAi fly stocks generated)
- Human Disease-TRiP (HuDis-TRiP) fly stock production and analysis, based on high-confidence orthologs of human genes with high-confidence disease association
- TRiP RNAi and CRISPR-Cas9 “toolbox” stocks (available at BDSC)
- RSVP in vivo reagent validation database and other bioinformatics support
Bioinformatics
Our efforts in bioinformatics grew from the need for state-of-the-art reagent design and screen data analysis approaches. Our group has since expanded our efforts in response to community needs, providing support for additional types of reagents, analysis, visualization, and integration.
Our newest and most popular online tools include:
- DIOPT for identification of orthologs (yeasts, worm, fly, frog, fish, mouse, rat, human)
- DIOPT-DIST for identification of human orthologs and links to disease
- UP-TORR for RNAi reagent identification based on up-to-date gene annotations
- DGET analysis of gene lists in the context of RNAseq data from modENCODE and others
- Find CRISPRs and CRISPR efficiency evaluation online tools for CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing
- FlyPrimerBank resource of pre-computed qPCR primers
- RSVP RNAi fly stock validation database (data for TRiP, VDRC, NIG-Japan fly stocks)
- GeneLookup and Screen Summary views of DRSC cell screen data sets
Location of the facility.
We are located in the New Research Building room 336 on the Harvard Medical School campus. The street address is 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA, 02115. (Map)