Ben Jussila InVivo Biosystems

Review: How a Small Worm is Helping Uncover the Pathogenicity of Gene Variants

Disease Modeling, Gene Editing, News & Announcements / By Ben Jussila and Alexandra Narin / August 25, 2022 September 2, 2022

We have previously discussed how the advancement of genomics technology has led to an increase in variants of unknown significance (VUS), and how important it is to identify whether or not they are disease-causing. In this review we discuss a recent publication from Dr. Oliver Blacque and collaborators (Lange et al., 2022), where they leveraged …

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What is Zebrafish Knock-in Tagging?

CRISPR, Gene Editing / By Ben Jussila / January 20, 2022 January 20, 2022

With knock-in tagging, you can tag your favorite gene at the native locus in your zebrafish line via CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology.

What the Undiagnosed Diseases Network is, How it Works, and How InVivo Biosystems is Doing its Part

Disease Modeling / By Ashwin Suresh, Alexandra Narin and Ben Jussila / July 12, 2021 July 13, 2021

The Undiagnosed Diseases Network UND is a nationwide network that is working to understand and diagnose rare and undiagnosed human diseases. The UND coordinates between research and clinical experts, using the latest genetic and genomic technologies to create a more personalized medicine model.

A Spotlight on Recent Zebrafish Research

CRISPR, Gene Editing, View from the Bench / By Ben Jussila / November 3, 2020 November 9, 2020

We’ve compiled some of the most recent informative and influential research being done using the zebrafish model

A New School of Thought: Using Zebrafish to Understand Genetics of Group Behavior

View from the Bench / By Ben Jussila / May 20, 2020 April 8, 2022

As we all spend time isolating ourselves for social distancing purposes, group behavior is on the forefront of our minds in new and unforeseen ways.

Zebrafish Acute Toxicity Study Demonstrates Concordance with Rat Fetal Embryotoxicity

View from the Bench / By Kathryn McCormick and Ben Jussila / April 16, 2020 February 13, 2023

Summary: As the zebrafish is increasingly adopted to test drug toxicity, it is critical to systematically assess the parallels between zebrafish, humans and other model systems. In this article, we highlight a recent paper that compares toxicity results obtained in zebrafish and rats. The paper concludes that zebrafish are “valuable for predicting mammalian toxic exposure …

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zebrafish crispr knock in protocol_workflow

6 things that can go wrong while making your Zebrafish CRISPR Knock-In

CRISPR, Gene Editing, View from the Bench / By Ben Jussila / April 1, 2020 March 23, 2022

With the advent of targeted nucleases like zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), TALE nucleases (TALENs), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas), zebrafish researchers were able to begin interrogating gene function and regions of interest with a precision that was previously out of reach. With these innovations, researchers could not only disrupt …

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Conditional mutagenesis by loxP insertion in zebrafish – outfoxing the unfloxable

Gene Editing, View from the Bench / By Ben Jussila / May 6, 2019 December 3, 2020

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated integration of loxP sequences for conditional mutagenesis in zebrafish has recently made its way into the toolkit of zebrafish researchers. In particular, CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis coupled with ssODN-mediated repair has simplified experimental design and provided a robust framework for conditional mutagenesis, as readily demonstrated by several groups in the zebrafish community to date….

CRISPR/Cas9 off target effects: Hyperactive cutting or media hype?

CRISPR, Gene Editing, View from the Bench / By Ben Jussila / October 17, 2018 November 10, 2020

There has been a lot of media coverage in recent months surrounding CRISPR/Cas9 and the potentially life changing impact the gene-editing technology could have. More recently though, this coverage has focused on the potential for serious consequences in the form of off-target effects. The fear with off-target effects is that CRISPR/Cas9 editing is not as …

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An Abnormal Absence of Antibodies: Filling the Gaps with Gene Editing Tools in Zebrafish

Gene Editing / By Ben Jussila / September 19, 2018 November 18, 2020

The zebrafish is an increasingly popular laboratory organism with many experimental advantages. The animal model has been used by biologists to discover the detailed processes that underlie vertebrate development and disease, and study vertebrate haematopoiesis and immune cell interactions1. The zebrafish embryo is also a popular vertebrate model for neurobiology2. Zebrafish research, however, is limited …

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