Scientist I, Cell and Molecular Biology, Gene Editing

Editas Medicine•Cambridge, MA

23h

About The Position

At Editas Medicine, we are pioneering the possible. Our mission and commitment is to translate the power and potential of the CRISPR/Cas12a and CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing systems into a robust pipeline of medicines for people living with serious diseases around the world. Our goal is to discover, develop, manufacture, and commercialize transformative, durable, precision genomic medicines for a broad class of diseases. Editas Medicine is seeking an accomplished, motivated, and independent Scientist I to join our Molecular and Cell Biology group. The primary focus for this individual within the next 12 months will be to leverage their expertise in molecular and cell biology to vet new discovery drug targets, test and optimize various gene editing strategies, develop and implement molecular, cellular, and biochemical quantitative assays, and design and generate in cellulo disease models. The Scientist will play a key role in expanding Editas’s drug development pipeline and advancing the next generation of in vivo CRISPR-based medicines.

Requirements

Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology or a related field with 0-2 years of industry experience (excluding post doc) or M.S. in cell and molecular biology with 4+ years of industry experience.
Direct experience designing and testing CRISPR-based gene editing technologies and executing middle- to high-throughput screens that maximize desired gene editing and biological outcomes.
Extensive experience handling and manipulating mammalian cell culture (both primary and immortalized), including lipid-based transfection, electroporation, or nucleofection of DNA (e.g. plasmid) and RNA (mRNA, siRNA), small molecule treatments, single cell subcloning and monoclonal cell line development, and fundamental light and fluorescence microscopy.
Extensive molecular biology expertise including plasmid and primer design, molecular cloning techniques such as Gibson assembly, restriction cloning, Quickchange mutagenesis, PCR and gel electrophoresis, DNA, RNA, and protein purification and quantification.
Broad-ranging quantitative molecular and cell assay development experience including DNA assays such as qPCR/ddPCR, RNA quantification assays such as RT-qPCR/RT-ddPCR, protein quantification assays such as JESS-Western Blot and ELISA, colorimetric/fluorometric assays measuring enzyme activity or small metabolites, and cell-based assays such as immunocytochemistry/immunofluorescence (ICC/IF) and flow cytometry/fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS).
Direct experience generating and testing both viral and non-viral gene therapy modalities including lentivirus production, lipid nanoparticles (LNP) formulation, plasmid production, and and in vitro mRNA transcription.
A strong understanding of early exploratory and lead identification drug development stage gates and proven track record of advancing pipeline programs.

Nice To Haves

An ability to lead and drive success in a fast-paced, team-oriented, multidisciplinary environment, collaborate cross-functionally, and manage multiple projects in parallel while adhering to aggressive program timelines
Direct drug development experience in hepatic monogenic diseases such as in-born errors in metabolism and cardiometabolic disease
Direct experience working with CRISPR-based precision editing platform technologies such as base and prime editing

Responsibilities

Function within a team dedicated to developing new and innovative gene editing therapeutics from conception through critical program development milestones, with a focus on screening and optimizing therapeutic strategies, generating the necessary molecular tools and cellular systems for characterizing and quantifying biological outputs, and demonstrating proof of therapeutic impact.
Work both independently and collaboratively within a matrixed research organization to design and execute critical experiments, generate, analyze, interpret, and communicate unambiguous data, and establish new scientific methodologies required for enabling high-quality, data-driven governance decisions and advancing program development in a timely manner.
Generate cell-based phenotypic models of disease and establish the experimental paradigms that enables both the high-throughput screening of CRISPR system configurations or genome engineering strategies and the assessment of therapeutic hypotheses.
Build precise and accurate quantitative assays to measure efficacy and biological function of gene editing strategies and their impact on disease phenotypes in cellulo and in vivo.
Design and generate necessary molecular tools and reagents for testing gene therapies such as viral (e.g. AAV, lentivirus) and non-viral (e.g. LNP, mRNA, plasmid) delivery vectors.
Serve as a hands-on mentor for junior research scientists and support their technical development within a laboratory setting.