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Redwood City, California, United States
Onsite
Retro develops therapies for diseases driven by the biology of aging. We focus on cellular reprogramming and autophagy to rejuvenate cell and tissue function with the ultimate aim of adding 10 years to healthy human lifespan.
We're building a mission-driven team of accomplished and kind individuals who embrace our startup culture of rapid iteration, transparency, and versatility.
We are hiring a new member of the HSC team who will help bring G-banding and karyotyping in-house. You'll stand up this capability and enable our team to get faster, more cost-effective reads on the genomic stability of our cell products. You will be the primary internal owner of this capability and should be comfortable establishing and validating the workflow with limited day-to-day cytogenetics supervision. Your primary focus will be establishing and running the cytogenetics assay, but you'll also help maintain our iPSC cultures — the starting material the assay depends on.
Transfer in, implement, and document an established G-banding and karyotyping workflow in-house for HSC program cell products.
Execute the full cytogenetics workflow (initially in research/PD and then in our GMP suite): metaphase arrest, cell harvest, hypotonic treatment, slide preparation, fixation, Giemsa staining, metaphase imaging, and software-assisted karyotype analysis.
Compare initial in-house results against historical data and document appropriate operating and quality-control criteria.
Analyze metaphase spreads to identify numerical and structural chromosomal abnormalities, and document findings clearly.
Support genomic-stability assessment of human primary cells
Culture, passage, expand, bank, and prepare iPSC samples in preparation for karyotyping
Track clone-level genomic stability, passage number, culture conditions, and QC status across lines.
Coordinate with CROs shipments of samples for genomic instability analysis
Maintain organized records, sample tracking, and imaging files, and develop SOPs for the workflows you build.
Have several years of hands-on G-banding and karyotype analysis experience, with demonstrated ability to make independent chromosome assessments and troubleshoot chromosome preparation and image quality.
Have experience with imaging software such as MetaSystems / Ikaros or Cytovision.
Have hands-on mammalian cell culture experience with strong sterile technique.
Are comfortable with high-magnification microscopy.
Are highly organized and able to run multiple clone/sample workflows in parallel.
Are available for weekend work as part of a team rotation.
Have experience standing up or validating a new assay in-house.
Hold current CG(ASCP) certification in cytogenetics.
Hold a Bachelor's or Master's degree in cell biology, molecular biology, cytogenetics, genetics, stem cell biology, biomedical sciences, or a related field.
Have hands-on experience maintaining iPSC cultures.