As a facility that supports large-scale screens in Drosophila and other insect cell lines, we get excited about reports of new Drosophila cell lines and related info.
We'd like to highlight two recent papers.
One report, a collaboration between Amanda Simcox's group, the DGRC, and our group here at the DRSC, describes new cell lines made in Amanda's group and characterized in a collaboration of the three groups. Muscle cells that pulse? Yes. That and other exciting new cell lines are reported in the publication below, and the cells are available at the DGRC...
One of the areas of interest for our technology development group is nanobodies. These small, single-chain antibodies are particularly attractive for Drosophila research as in addition to being used for standard immune-technologies such as immunoblots and immunostaining of tissues, they can also be expressed in vivo as fusions to fluorescent proteins (‘chromobodies’) or functional domains (e.g., for degradation or re-localization).
Past applications of this technology in Drosophila relied on availability of nanobodies targeting a specific protein or use of nanobodies targeting...
At the DRSC-BTRR, we've been doing a lot of pooled-format CRISPR knockout screens in Drosophila cells. We're finding the results to be robust and reproducible. And best of all, the results have been informative, providing insights into diverse areas of biology.
Thinking about how to do CRISPR knockout screens in cells is a little different from thinking about how to do a genetic or RNAi screen in vivo or doing an arrayed-format RNAi screen....
Below we share with the community at large the report we provided to the Fly Board in advance of the 2022 Fly Meeting. As always, your feedback on our technologies and services is welcome. We are here to help.
DRSC/TRiP Functional Genomics Resources at Harvard Medical School
Do you have questions about modifying Drosophila cell lines with CRISPR or performing large-scale cell screens? Questions about in vivo RNAi with TRiP fly stocks or CRISPR knockout or activation with our sgRNA fly stocks? Questions about our new protocols and resources for CRISPR mosquito cell lines? Pop into our Zoom office hours to say hello and get our expert input! Registration is required (see below).
The DRSC/TRiP will be represented at the 2024 Boston Area Drosophila (BAD) meeting, which will be held this year at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA, on May 21st. Come meet us there and enjoy a great regional meeting!
The DRSC-BTRR will be attending and presenting at The Allied Genomics Conference (TAGC), a GSA-hosted event that combines the annual 'fly meeting' with meetings of other model organism research communities.
The DRSC will be tuning in for a virtual presentation in the Lucy Cherbas Lecture Series hosted by our colleagues at the Drosophila Genomics Resource Center (DGRC) in Bloomington, IN, on the topic of Drosophila Cell Culture. The presentation features Prof. Amanda Simcox (Ohio State), an international leader in development of new Drosophila cultured cell lines. The DGRC has scheduled the presentation for 11 am - 12:20 pm EST. If, like us, you are interested to attend, too, use this link from the DGRC to register in advance:... Read more about Lucy Cherbas Lecture Series 2023: "Drosophila Cell Culture" Prof. Amanda Simcox (Ohio State)
The DRSC is collaborating with other groups to present a virtual workshop on CRISPR technologies for Drosophila cells and in vivo as part of the GSA Annual Drosophila Research Conference 2023.