Notice

The FGSL collaboration opportunity invites researchers to partner with a cutting-edge facility to carry out CRISPR-based functional genomics screens using complex human in vitro models. This initiative is a unique chance for UK-based academics — and, where space allows, small and medium-sized enterprises or industry parties — to access a state-of-the-art platform that many individual labs might not be able to support on their own.

By working with the FGSL, you benefit from full technical support: screens are run by experienced scientists at the Milner Therapeutics Institute (MTI), in collaboration with the FGSL steering team. You don’t even need to supply your own CRISPR library - access to libraries has already been secured through a partnership between the FGSL, AstraZeneca and MTI.

This opportunity is especially attractive if you have a well-defined research question or hypothesis - for example, a set of candidate genes, signalling pathways or disease-relevant targets - and want to use functional genomics to test them at scale. You set the aims and design of the screen, and the FGSL handles the experimental execution, data generation and technical aspects.

Thanks to the FGSL’s advanced arrayed CRISPR screening platform and access to complex human cellular models (such as organoids, induced-pluripotent stem cell–derived cells, co-cultures or primary cells), this collaboration offers a powerful route to generate insights into disease biology, identify novel therapeutic targets, and accelerate translation towards diagnostics or treatments.

Above all, the FGSL collaboration scheme exemplifies the value of pooling expertise and resources at a national scale: by bridging academia and industry, it dramatically expands the kinds of functional genomics studies researchers can realistically perform - especially those that require scale, technical sophistication and high-throughput screening capacity.