Chris Vakulskas, PhD profile page

Chris joined Integrated DNA Technologies' Research and Development team in 2015. He manages contract research projects, leads process development for protein purification, and develops innovative new products in qPCR, NGS and Genomics Medicines. Chris and his team developed market-leading CRISPR nuclease solutions for genome editing, including “HiFi/SpyFi Cas9” (published in Nature Medicine), “Cas12a Ultra” (published in Nature Communications) and has recently led the development of the PrimeTime™ One-Step 4X Broad-Range Master Mix diagnostics product for the detection of viral specimens absent sample extraction. His laboratory specializes in protein engineering and frequently collaborates with both academic and industry research teams to co-publish breakthrough solutions in agriculture, human therapeutics and diagnostics. Chris earned a Bachelor of Science in Genetics and Biotechnology from the University of Iowa, a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Iowa, a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Institutes of Health and was recently recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus by the University of Florida.