Wincott et al
Excited to announce a second preprint, and the third lab research output for the year… Ceire’s first data manuscript is now up on bioRxiv - not bad going for less than a year on the job!
We’ve come up with a simple and remarkably robust way to insert molecular barcodes into the genome of Toxoplasma tachyzoites using a CRISPR-based approach for a targeted double strand break combined with super-short single strand barcode oligo homology repair templates.
Thanks to a wonderful collaboration with Sarah Ewald’s lab @ the University of Virginia, and Eva Frickel’s group @ the University of Birmingham, we’ve undertaken the first within-host population dynamic study with this eukaryotic pathogen. For the first time we’ve been able to ask questions about the selection bottleneck experienced by the parasite population as it colonizes the host brain and establishes the chronic persister cell niche.
Mini spoiler - it’s not what you might expect! Check Ceire’s paper for the full story.