Description
We are looking for a skilled, hands-on microbiology lab technician to join our multi-disciplinary team in our mission to harness the potential of unculturable microbes.
Role
In this role, you will facilitate the expansion of our library of novel microbes and support our vision to discover solutions to global issues including the discovery of new antibiotics against resistant bacteria and fungicides to support global food security.
Team
Our microbial generation team oversees the generation, processing, and stocking of novel species of microbes.
Together we have used extensive data collection and a range of bioinformatics approaches to culture more than 2000 previously unexplored microbial species. We continue to grow our library by employing a variety of sequencing approaches including whole genome sequencing, amplicon sequencing and shotgun metagenomics to strengthen our understanding of individual microbes and the soil microbiome. On top of this, we apply co-occurrence and reactome techniques to understand the relationships between individual species and are implementing machine learning to iteratively improve our experimentation to increase our microbial capture rates.
We are a diverse team, using a range of capabilities to continue to increase our cultivation rates for novel species through further technological development of the platform and automated pipelines. This allows for exploration of a greater chemical space (e.g. carbon sources, nitrogen sources) and biological space (e.g. helper strains, symbionts) to culture truly novel microbes.
Key Responsibilities
* Supporting the Microbial Generation team in isolation of novel species of microbes
* Supporting the Screening team in running routine bioassays and sample extractions
* Maintenance of our microbial library, including using various methods to stock our strains
* Maintenance of the pipeline for microbial isolation and passaging samples for isolation of microbial species
* DNA harvesting and library preparation for NGS
* Preparation of media for DOE-driven experiments
* Ownership of project(s) and upskilling in various areas of the Bactobio pipeline
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
You should have:
* A Master's degree or above in life sciences, or a BSc in life sciences plus equivalent experience
* Experience working with sterile technique including handling of agar plates and liquid culture
* Experience with working with bacteria (a plus if it's with species which are difficult to culture in the lab)
* Interest in biotechnology and enthusiasm for scientific discovery
* Ability to work independently as well as within a team
It would be great if you have:
* Experience working in industry for 1-2 years
* Experience with next generation sequencing (NGS), especially library preparation for Illumina and nanopore sequencing
* Experience working with liquid-handling robots
Benefits
* The chance to be part of an impact-driven, fun, multicultural, kind, and ambitious crowd
* Daily access to academic leaders, business leaders, and unicorn founders
* 25 days holiday + bank holidays
* Enhanced parental leave (12 weeks maternity / 6 weeks paternity)
* Enhanced Sick Pay
* Paid sabbatical after 5 years employment
* Flexible start and finish times within the company's core hours to fit your preferences
* Weekly team activities including board games, sports activities, and socials on Fridays
* Complimentary snacks, fruits, tea, coffee, soft drinks,...
* Access to 1000s of training courses through Udemy, with an allowance for both personal development and work-related training
* Bike2Work scheme
* Employee Assistance Programme offering structured counselling, life and career coaching, legal and financial advice platform
About Bactobio
We are a London-based biotechnology startup using breakthrough technologies in synthetic biology, next-generation sequencing and machine learning to cultivate the 99% of previously unculturable microbes. These microbes constitute the biggest bioresource in life, and our exclusive access allows us to discover novel chemicals that can be applied across a variety of markets.
We are impact-driven. Our first goal is to solve the growing antimicrobial resistance crisis through novel antibiotics and stabilise global food security through novel natural biodegradable fungicides.