Intern- Gene Expression

Location: City of Edinburgh

Ask Bio Inc., a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, is a fully integrated gene therapy company dedicated to developing life-saving medicines and changing lives. The company maintains a portfolio of clinical programs across a range of neuromuscular, central nervous system, cardiovascular, and metabolic disease indications with a clinical-stage pipeline that includes investigational therapeutics for congestive heart failure, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, multiple system atrophy, Parkinson’s disease, and Pompe disease.

Ask Bio’s gene therapy platform includes Pro
10(TM), an industry-leading proprietary cell line manufacturing process, and an extensive array of capsids and promoters. With global headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and European headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland, the company has generated hundreds of proprietary capsids and promoters, several of which have entered pre-clinical and clinical testing.
** Our vision:
** Pioneering science to create transformative molecular medicines.
** Our mission:
** Lead innovative science and drive clinical outcomes to transform people's lives.
** Our principles:
*** Advance innovative science by pushing boundaries.
* Bring transformative therapeutics to patients in need.
* Provide an environment for employees to reach their fullest potential.
** Our values:
*** Be a Pioneer. We are not afraid of the impossible and to innovate to make gene therapies accessible to those in need.
* Cultivate Collaboration. Strive to be the best teammate, actively listen, openly communicate, and embrace diverse points of view.
* Embrace Responsibility. We are humbled by the enormity of our mission.  We hold a relentless commitment to advance science and clinical outcomes for our patients, families, and caregivers.
* Raise the Bar. Continuously drive improvements and efficiencies. Seek and provide constructive feedback. Have a bias for learning and action.
* Act with Uncompromising Integrity. Be honest, transparent, and committed to doing what’s right in every situation. Make clear commitments and follow through.
** Position Summary
** During this internship, the student will support the project “Identification of in vitro models for evaluating promoter activity and developing functional expression assays” within the Gene Expression team in Edinburgh, UK. The main assignment will focus on identifying suitable cell lines or other in vitro models and establishing systems to test promoter constructs, with the overall goal of developing robust and specific functional assays.

This intern will report to the Director, Product R&D and is based in our UK office.
** Job Responsibilities
*** Help establish and characterize in vitro disease‐relevant models by working with mammalian cell lines and, where appropriate, more complex systems (e.g. co-cultures)
* Maintain and differentiate cells under defined culture conditions
* Apply controlled stimulation with small molecules to induce disease‐like phenotypes
* Perform endpoint analyses such as quantitative PCR, flow cytometry and ELISA
* Contribute to the development of reporter/transgene specific readout assays to assess promoter‐driven reporter expression and endogenous gene expression changes in these models *(for example fluorescence or luminescence assays)
** Utilize different molecular biology techniques in the generation of such systems (e.g. cloning; nanopore sequencing)
* Capture all data in an ELN system and present ongoing work and internship report data to the wider team
** Minimum Requirements
*** Must be pursuing a Master’s degree in a scientific field
* Strong sense of accountability and ability to prioritize multiple tasks
* Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
* Flexible and willing to support a variety of tasks for the (department) team
* Available to work full-time at the office during summer months
** Preferred Education, Experience and Skills
*** Prior experience/exposure to working in a lab environment
* Ask Bio Inc. (Ask Bio) is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion,…