TT2026

Training

 

Transgenic Certificate courses now available on the AALAS Learning Library (ISTT members were deeply involved with the writing of these courses.)

Mary Lyon Centre at MRC Harwell Training Courses: Click HERE for information.

The 2nd Midwest CRISPR Animal Modeling Symposium (M-CAMS) will again be hosted by the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research-Transgenic and Genome Editing Facility (TGEF) and held in West Lafayette, Indiana on March 13, 2026 REGISTER HERE 

We had so much fun last time, we are doing it all again: a morning of talks by some of our most beloved ISTT members-Guru, Zach Freeman, Tristan Kempston, Masato Ohtsuka and special guest Mark Budde, founder of Plasmidsaurus, a lunchtime workshop on designing animal models and an afternoon dedicated to tech talk. The afternoon Protocol Parade and Technical Roundtable will again cover all our standard protocols (superovulation, microinjection, electroporation, embryo transfer, cryopreservation, IVF rederivation) and will also feature 2 focus sessions this year: One on zygote electroporation/AAV/GONAD and another on Sequencing/Bioinformatics for Genotyping. We will talk about what we do the same, what we do differently and why. What's not working, what's working really well and why. What's tried and true, what's new and what's been around but we've been afraid to try. Tricks we are delighted to spread tips we are happy to share and secrets we are willing to divulge. And then we will keep the conversation going and the good times rolling at our CRISPR Mixer!

March 12, 2026

Pre-Symposium Workshop : Ensembl – Genome Browser

Jorge Batista da Rocha (trainer)  -  Full day workshop

March 13, 2026

Morning Talks – Session 1 : Animal Model Design with CRISPR/cas9

Tristan Kempston  -  Introduction to Gene Editing with CRISPR-Cas9
Chanabasavaiah Gurumurthy  -  RE-CREATING Existing Mouse Models into Novel Animal Models
Masato Ohtsuka  -  Integrase/Recombinase-Mediated Targeted Transgenesis: PITT and SCRIPT
Stephane Pelletier  -  eSPLIT and iSWAP: Streamlined Strategies and Design Principles for Conditional Allele Engineering using Short Artificial Introns

Morning Talks – Session 2 : Sequencing for Genotyping and Validation

Mark Budde  -  Co-Founder/CEO of Plasmidsaurus, Special Guest – How Sequencing Enables a Step Change in Scientific Discovery
Zachary Freeman  -  Bridging Past and Future: Validating Classic and Next-Generation Engineered Models Using Long-Read Sequencing

Lunch and Learn : Animal Model Design Workshop

Tristan Kempston  -  Designing CRISPR-based Mutations in Rodent Models

Protocol Parade and Technical Roundtable : All Hands on Tech

Focus session 1  -  Sequencing/Bioinformatics for Genotyping and Validation
(Experts on Tap: Zach Freeman, Fabien Delerue, Plasmidsaurus, Hedyeh Rahimian)
Focus session 2  -  Zygote Electroporation/AAV/iGONAD
(Experts on Tap: Fabien Delerue, Nobuko Yamanaka, Yasuhiro Moriizumi (BEX), Michael Sperber (NepaGene), VectorBuilder, Masato Ohtsuko)
Other topics  -  Genome Browsers; Pipette pullers; anesthetic machines; ICSI; Needles; Rabbits; Rats; Gene Editing Software and more
Other Experts on Tap  -  Jorge Batista da Rocha (Ensembl); Adair Oesterle (Microtul); Kim Matheny (Kent Scientific); Jesse Toumeh (VectorBuilder) and YOU

Chat with Mark Budde  -  Mark has graciously agreed to have an inspirational, sit down chat with grad students and any other interested parties

Midwest CRISPR Mixer  -  Let the fun begin continue!

ISTT Educational Initiatives series

Past workshops:

Recordings are available for ISTT members among videos 

A selection of presentations is available for ISTT members among methods/protocols/workshops

Long-Read Sequencing in Practice: Practical Strategies for Design, Multiplexing, and Analysis

CRISPR gene editing has been effectively employed to streamline the production of genetically modified animal models for biomedical research. However, a notable limitation is the potential for on-target mutations that may have detrimental consequences. These bystander mutations often go undetected with conventional genotyping methods, such as PCR, and standard sequencing techniques. Accurately identifying targeted animals is crucial for evaluating the efficiency of creating genetically engineered (GE) animal models. Long-read sequencing (LRS) has revolutionized this process by enabling comprehensive characterization without the need for PCR amplification. This advancement eliminates the need for multiple sets of junction PCRs, simplifying the verification of insertion accuracy and aiding in the screening for random integrations.

Presenter: Dr. Monica Sentmanat,R&D Lead and a Senior Scientist at the Genome Engineering and Stem Cell Center at the McDonnell Genome Center in Washington University in St. Louis

23 February 2026

24 February 2026 

Exploring the New Ensembl Genome Browser - two part workshop

This two part tutorial is an introduction to the new Ensembl genome browser
(beta.ensembl.org), which presents genomic features for over 3,000 species
with a new user interface. Participants had the opportunity to learn
about the range of data currently available through the new platform, gain
hands-on experience in navigating the new Ensembl website to retrieve and
interpret data and learn about how this data might be informative for their
research.

Workshop I, July 14th, 2025

Workshop II, July 16th, 2025

Validation of Engineered Alleles

October 29, 2024

Presenters: Marie-Christine Birling, Guillaume Pavlovic and Lydia Teboul

Highlights:

  • Principles of genotyping and genomic validation
  • Validating random integrations
  • Validating targeted alleles
  • Validating edited alleles

Standardized Genetic Nomenclature: A Critical Tool for Research Reproducibility and Visibility. A rose by any other name would not be a rose.

July 23th and 24th, 2024

  • Fernando Benavides, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
  • Lauryl MJ Nutter, The Centre for Phenogenomics, The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada.

Global Shipping of Rodents & Cryopreserved Materials: A European & US Perspective

May 28th 2024

  • Auke Boersma, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria, European Mouse Mutant Archive (EMMA) –INFRAFRONTIER
  • Abby Chott, MMRRC and RRRC

Mating, Timing, Superovulation and Implantation

  • Optimized workflow for efficient generation of large knock-in mouse models using a combination of IVF and CRISPR-mediated genome editing in C57BL/6 mice.
  • Improving superovulation efficiency and implantation rates

March 25th and 26th, 2024

  • Mitra Cowan, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  • Judy Hallett, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA 

Non-surgical Embryo Transfer and Use of Cervical Manipulation for Induction of Pseudopregnancy in Recipient Mice (exclusively for ISTT-members!)

July 18th and 20th, 2023

  • Barbara Stone, Director of Animal Research and Director of Assisted Reproduction Sciences at ParaTechs Corporation, USA
  • Philip Damiani, Vice President of Laboratory and Scientific Operations at Embryotech Laboratories, USA

Gene Editing via Mouse Embryo Electroporation Workshop

May 24th and 25th, 2023

  • Fabien Delerue, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
  • Fatima El Marjou, Institut Curie, Paris, France

Embryo Transfer in mice, oviductal and uterine, surgical and non-surgical

March 23rd and 30th, 2022

  • Thomas Kolbe, Assoc. Prof. Dr., Biomodels Austria, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
  • Rahmen Bin Ali, Animal Modeling Facility (AMF) NKI, Amsterdam, the Netherlands .

Designing mouse models 

Nov - Dec 2021

  • CB Gurumurthy  Mouse Genome Engineering Core Facility, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA