Desktop Genetics Ltd (“the Company”), a company revolutionizing the way biologists use CRISPR genome editing technology, has today announced the launch of its DESKGEN Series CRISPR Libraries to support gene editing efforts in academic and biopharma settings.
The series consists of six new CRISPR library products, each of which can be tailored to an investigator’s list of genomic targets using any delivery method. Each product addresses a particular experimental application of the genome editing technology:
- Disrupt Libraries can be used to functionally knock out genes to reveal novel druggable targets and essential pathways.
- Tile Libraries saturate coding and non-coding regions to reveal genotype-phenotype relationships
- SNP-In Libraries allow high-throughput insertion and deletion knockins across the genome
- Interfere Libraries silence target gene expression with CRISPRi
- Activate Libraries allow over-expression of target genes with CRISPRa
- Predict Libraries provide a unique scoring algorithm optimized for teams working on specific model cell lines or organisms, enabling other libraries to be designed more effectively
Once DTG receives a customer’s list of targets along with their experimental intent, the company designs the library using its proprietary DESKGEN AI and suite of bioinformatics pipelines. The validated technology employs machine learning techniques combined with the largest database of experimental CRISPR outcomes in the industry to select the guides most appropriate for the chosen targets and experiment, with superior activity and specificity when compared with competing techniques. Once the designs are complete, the Company manufactures the library in a variety of ready-to-use formats including plasmids, RNA, ribonucleoproteins, or as lentivirus — in either pooled or arrayed format.
Unlike standard off-the-shelf CRISPR libraries, DESKGEN Libraries allow researchers to look at the targets they're interested in, opening the door to novel discovery. By meeting the client’s requirements with a bespoke CRISPR library, and designed with the latest know-how in genome editing, these new products provide researchers with fewer false positives and negatives and the confidence needed to support claims made in basic and preclinical research. The Company provides both large- and small-scale library development and can meet the needs of both functional genomics and drug discovery laboratories regardless of budget.
Commenting on the DESKGEN Series Libraries, Riley Doyle, CEO at DTG said: “With a DESKGEN Library, you really are setting up your experiment or screen for success as you will have the best tool for the job — no matter what that job may be. This is the first time that such best-in-class CRISPR libraries have been made available in a fully customizable manner, and as a result, researchers neither have to waste time designing libraries themselves, nor take a risk that the data generated from an off-the-shelf alternative be redundant or incorrect. We are committed to maintaining the supremacy of the DESKGEN AI design platform, and will continue to deliver more and more solutions that enable novel discovery in all fields that exploit CRISPR, including drug discovery, agricultural biotech, and basic research.”
The Company notes that the launch of these products is to be supported by a capital raise of £1.5M, which is currently underway.
