Research Associate, Antibody Engineering

Job Description

Programmable DNA, the software of life, is finally here! Twist Bioscience is developing a disruptive synthetic DNA technology that will change the world, enabling widespread health and sustainability. Synthetic biologists will use our products to engineer how organisms produce cures to diseases, make everyday chemicals by using the atmosphere as the carbon source, enable plants to make their own fertilizers, and to create in-vivo diagnostics that alert us when we are sick, and many more applications.

We are seeking an outstanding, innovative, and creative candidate to join Twist Biopharma as a Research Associate in Antibody Discovery and Engineering. As part of Biopharma, you will play multiple roles within a team responsible for antibody discovery and engineering utilizing in vitro display technologies, e.g. phage display, ribosome display, and yeast display. The ideal candidate will have relevant experience including molecular biology skills related to the design, creation, and sequence verification of DNA plasmids, and familiarity with antibody fragment library design and construction is a plus. Repertoire analysis using both NGS and Sanger sequencing is desirable. You will learn and develop essential skills of the antibody engineering workflow in a fast paced innovative team environment.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Perform phage and yeast display library panning on both soluble protein and cell membrane targets
• Help with library construction using various molecular cloning skills like PCR, restriction digestion, ligation, DNA gel purification, and library bacterial transformation
• Run DNA sequencing by Illumina NGS and prep samples for Sanger sequencing, summarize sequencing results and be able to design necessary sequencing primers
• Pick colonies and conduct 96 and 384 well format ELISA assays
• Prepare bacterial clones for Sanger-sequencing and analyze sequencing data against antibody repertoire
• Record experimental findings and present to supervisor and team
• Perform high throughput primary binding assays (SPR/BLI) with help of automation
• Thrive in a team-oriented environment while meeting demanding project schedules

What You’ll Bring to the Team

• Your educational background includes a B.S in molecular biology, protein engineering, biological chemistry, or related discipline with minimum 1-year related work experience
• Knowledge and experiences in molecular biology, or antibody engineering methods and applications
• You are excited to learn new techniques and can work collaboratively with others

Preferred Qualifications

• B.S. with minimum 1-year experience in molecular biology or protein engineering fields
• Experience with molecular biology
• Experience with phage, ribosome or yeast display is a plus
• Bioinformatics or programming experience is a plus
• Ability to multitask and thrive in a fast-paced and challenging environment
• Excellent oral/written communication and interpersonal skills
• Must be able to work as an individual contributor and as a team member