Research Technician

Department

This is an exciting opportunity to work with the research group of Professor Luke Alphey. The aim of the lab, and of this project, is to use insect synthetic biology to develop new, safe, sustainable methods for reducing the harm caused by pest insects, particularly mosquitoes and mosquito-borne disease. This position is part of a new five-year $3m project funded by the Wellcome Trust led by Prof Luke Alphey at York; project partners include The Pirbright Institute (UK), University of Tartu (Estonia) and Universiti Malaya (Kuala Lumpur).

Better methods for controlling mosquito-borne viruses are urgently required. We will develop broad-spectrum anti-viral traits in engineered mosquitoes. By “broad-spectrum” we mean active against multiple arboviruses, in contrast to the current state of the art for synthetic anti-viral (“reduced vector competence”) traits, RNAi-based systems which provide resistance only against specific viruses or virus strains.

Such tools could be delivered to wild vector populations via mating between released modified mosquitoes and wild mosquitoes, possibly in combination with “gene drives” - the target of another project team in the lab. These methods are egalitarian – everyone within the protected area is equally protected, irrespective of wealth, ethnicity, gender, education etc.

The project focuses on alphaviruses, and the use of super-infection exclusion to provide broad-spectrum protection. See https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.09.20.508686v1 for a description of our initial work in this area. This project builds on that and will develop prototype strains with characterised, validated, broad-spectrum resistance to alphaviruses.

Nominal start date is 01 April 2023 but potentially negotiable. It is anticipated that additional roles with later start dates will become available, across a range of grades, for which informal enquiries may be made to luke.alphey@york.ac.uk.

Role

The core of the project is to develop and test components, modules and systems for these novel anti-viral “refractory insect” systems in Aedes aegypti. Correspondingly, the main component of the role is insect genetic studies (development of new transgenic/gene edited strains, rearing and colony maintenance, phenotypic analysis, experimental design and statistical analysis). Additional responsibilities include some molecular biology (assisting with development of novel plasmids, preparing DNA for mosquito injections, molecular analysis of transgenic strains), communicating progress and data including assisting with manuscript preparation.

Skills, Experience & Qualification needed

• HNC, HND, Degree, or equivalent experience in Biological Science
• Ability to perform complex technical tasks to a consistent high standard with attention to detail, conforming with relevant safety regulations and procedures
• Experience of working with insects

Interview date: To be confirmed

For informal enquiries: Please contact Prof Luke Alphey (luke.alphey@york.ac.uk)

The Department of Biology is committed to the development of technical staff. The University is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community – a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit. We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, campus facilities and services to support staff from different backgrounds. #EqualityatYork. Biology at York was the first UK Biology Department to achieve Athena Swan Gold Award.

Condition of employment

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. Consequently, all applicants will be asked to declare both unspent and spent convictions on their application form.

Appointment of the successful candidate will be conditional on a Disclosure and Barring Service check.

The University strives to be diverse and inclusive – a place where we can ALL be ourselves.

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented at the University.

We offer family friendly, flexible working arrangements, with forums and inclusive facilities to support our staff. #EqualityatYork